Know Your Enemy
by KatyNewt
Summary: Bethan always wanted to make a difference in the world. Then she met a vampire, a werewolf, a ghost, and a mysterious man in grey, and discovered that the world she thought she knew was a lie... Set after the end of Series 4. Characters Tom, Alex, Hal and an OC. Complete!
1. Community Support

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

So this is my second fic, and one I've been itching to write for months! I wrote the plot out a while ago, so as soon as I finished We Can Be Heroes, I jumped straight into this one! And ironically, it was tonight that the first clips of Series 5 were shown in a trailer for BBC Three. It looks amazing (of course!) so I'm now even more excited about it then I was. Only two months to go!

Anyway, back to the fic! Please review, I love hearing what you have to say and it's nice to know that people are reading what I write! It's set after the end of Series 4, so if you haven't seen it yet, it will contain spoilers. Enjoy! x

**Chapter 1: Community Support**

Bethan was well and truly fed up. As she paced the streets of Barry, the weather its usual miserable self, she was forced to assess her life again, as she did every week night at this time. It wasn't that she hated her job. Not quite anyway. Being a community support officer had seemed perfect for her when she'd started out, fresh from training and still optimistic. She liked working with people, had always thought she was good at conflict resolution, and wanted to make a difference to the community. She'd been naive then. Now she realised how mistaken she had been. Neighbourhood policing had turned out to be less of catching the bad guys and more about chasing after little shits on stolen mopeds, intervening in family warfare, and cleaning up after people who couldn't hold their drink.

It wasn't all about the day to day bleakness of the housing estates though. On Saturday nights, she got to leave her daily real life episode of "The Jeremy Kyle Show" for the bright lights of the town centre. Initially this hadn't seemed so bad. Until kicking out time that is. Then all hell broke loose. Fights, blood and puke everywhere. It wasn't exactly the job she had dreamed of.

Still, someone had to do it. To clean up the world so that it was all fresh and new in the morning. Some days she felt like she made a difference, that there were some good points to her job. Today was not one of those days.

Billy Jenks had been caught shoplifting again. A four-pack of beers and a sausage roll this time. And so, Bethan found herself checking all his usual glamorous haunts for the third time that week. She eventually found him sitting on a wall outside a charity shop, already half pissed.

"Oh look out, it's the fuzz!" He laughed mockingly. "Evening officer."

"Billy. Again? Really? I thought we talked about this the other day." She said softly, coming to sit on the wall with him. Billy had had a tough life. Dad long gone, Mum stuck deep in the depths of depression and alcoholism, it was no surprise he had gone off the rails.

"Yea well, there's nothing else to do round here. What you gonna do anyway, take me back to me mum? She won't give a shit anyway."

"I should arrest you. You fancy another night in the cells do you? Lucky for you, Mr Rogers at the shop has a soft spot for you and he wants me to drop all charges, so long as you go back and pay him for what you took tomorrow morning." Billy looked down, suddenly ashamed. When she'd first met him, he had been a regular face in the custody suite, only 14 but starting to get a bad reputation around the station. But for some reason, Bethan had found that he would talk to her, and gradually, he had started to sort himself out. He was one of the reasons she had stuck with the job. She had a purpose, even if it did seem a small one.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"Yea, well save it for Mr Rogers. Now get off home. It's dark and bloody freezing, and I wouldn't be out here if I didn't have to be." She smiled at him and ruffled his hair. He jumped off the wall and started walking, hands in his pockets and hood up. "And don't let me see you here again tonight!" she called after him. She liked to think he had waved back, but in reality, his hand gesture, hidden by his long sleeves, had probably included a raised middle finger. She shook her head and sighed.

Getting up and setting off down the street again, she heard a groan from a nearby alleyway. Frowning, she went to investigate, expecting to find that the strange gurgling noises were kids messing about or someone who had had a heavy night out in town. It never failed to amaze her how drunk people managed to get even this early in the evening. Edging into the alleyway, she stayed quiet as her eyes adjusted to the dark away from the street lights. Hand on her baton, she crept forward and found the cause of the noises.

"Alright you two, pack it in. This isn't the place to be getting all hot and heavy. Just clear off and get a room." She flicked on her torch to reveal a woman lying on top of a man a good ten feet away. But as she moved closer, the colour drained from her face.

The woman looked up at her, eyes black, chin dripping with blood and... fangs protruding where blunt teeth should have been. Bethan rubbed her eyes, thinking she was seeing things.

"What the..." she breathed, too stunned to form a proper sentence. The woman hissed at her like a livid cat, and Bethan stumbled backwards, half falling back towards the deserted street. The woman fixed her with a terrifying grin, her white fangs gleaming in stark contrast to the dark red blood that covered her mouth, nose and chin. Bethan knew she should do something, run or scream or pull out her baton, but she was frozen to the spot. They hadn't exactly covered this in her police training. She heard herself whimper as the woman reached her, eyes still black, and grinning inanely. Bethan could do nothing but stare helplessly. A movement over the woman's shoulder caught her eye.

"Oi blood sucker, meet Duncan." A man with a heavy northern accent said, catching the woman off guard. She turned and hissed at her attacker, but the man stabbed her with something pointy and wooden before she could react. She wheezed out a pained breath, her hands clutching her wounded chest before she dropped, turning to what Bethan could only describe as dust. She coughed, wafting away the foul smelling ashes that clung to the air around her. She stared at the pile of clothes at her feet, eyes wide, feeling faint.

"Are you alright?"

She snapped her gaze up to the man infront of her. She couldn't see his face properly in the darkness, but he sounded concerned. All she could do was open and close her mouth like a fish, unable to speak.

"Tom, come on, we should go." She heard another man's voice, clipped and very English, calling from the entrance to the alleyway.

"You're safe now." The northern man said to her before running to join his friend in the street.

"Thanks." She muttered as he disappeared. She bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to steady herself. She reached for her radio to call for backup, unsure of what to say. "Hotel Quebec, this is Whiskey Tango Foxtrot six nine, I need urgent assistance. There's been a murder."

* * *

"Officer Arthur. Bethan. Please, take the time off. What you witnessed was a harrowing incident that must have been hard to process. Take a week or so, get your head together, and you'll feel much better for it. I can promise you that."

"With all due respect Sir, I feel fine. And I didn't see anything harrowing, not really. I just discovered the body."

"And disturbed the suspect who then went on to threaten you before fleeing the scene."

"Yes, but I wasn't hurt. I'm fine, honestly." Bethan smiled, trying her best to convince her supervisor that she didn't need time away from work. The greying man sighed.

"Look Bethan. I want you to take the time off, and before you start on at me again," he held up a hand to stop her cutting in, "you'd be doing me a favour. If you have a mental breakdown or something on the job, that's going to be a lot of paperwork that I frankly don't have the time for. You're a brilliant officer, but you need to know when to stop and just relax. Take the time off, go on holiday, start a hobby, get pissed every day and immerse yourself in the joys of daytime TV. I don't care what you do, just as long as you're not here. Is that understood?" he smiled at her encouragingly, despite the blunt command.

"Yes Sir." She agreed reluctantly.

"Good. Now bugger off. You're off duty with immediate effect. Enjoy yourself." He said warmly, getting up to open the door for her. She left his office and went straight to the kit room to change.

The truth was, Bethan had been struggling to accept what had happened, not least because she had kept it to herself. When her colleagues had arrived at the alleyway the night before, she had said nothing of the woman's black eyes and fangs, or of the two men who had come to her aid. She wasn't sure it had been the right thing to do at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with her decision. They would never have believed her, and she would probably be getting sectioned right now rather than given compassionate leave. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure what it was she had seen. As for her rescuers, mentioning their involvement just hadn't seemed right. They might be implicated in the murder, and they had saved her life after all. Maybe. She still wasn't completely convinced she hadn't been the victim of an elaborate hoax.

Walking out of the police station she stood on the pavement for a few moments, wondering what to do. She couldn't go home. The solitary nights would be bad enough, and she didn't exactly relish the idea of resorting to the TV for company. All she could do was think about what had happened, and work was the only thing that came close to a distraction. She wondered if she might just be better off tackling this head on. That might be the only way to move past this.

"Better than doing nothing." She muttered to herself, putting her hood up against the steady rain and making her way down the street. Decision made, she headed back towards the alleyway, desperate for answers she knew she was unlikely to find.

* * *

"Hal, can you come out here please? I need some help." Tom called hopefully from behind the counter at the cafe.

"I'm busy." Came the vampire's reply. Tom sighed and got on with serving the line of customers waiting for him to take their orders.

As soon as the midday rush was over he made his way to the kitchen, where he found Hal busily cleaning the ceiling.

"Hal." The vampire looked down at him, startled by the sudden noise. He smiled and stepped down from the crate he had been standing on. "You can't keep hiding in here mate, I need you out there, even if it's just when it gets busy. I can't carry on working on my own over lunch, people are starting to complain." He grumbled.

"But Tom..." Hal started, his face falling.

"You won't kill anyone, and if you do start looking like you're going to snap, I'll stop you. And don't do that face. You know it makes me feel guilty, but it's not going to work. You need to get back into the world mate. You can't hide forever."

"I can try." Hal answered quietly.

"You don't need to. It's been weeks since you came back to work, and all you've done is stay in here and clean until all the customers have gone. If you disinfect the walls any more the grouting's going to start falling off the tiles. You need to push yourself, otherwise you'll never feel confident."

"Push myself? And what if I push myself over the counter and onto someone's neck, hmm? You won't be saying that then."

"But you won't!" Tom groaned. "This is all in your head. You've got your routines going again, and you've got me here to stop you, just incase anything happens." The bell over the door rang, signalling the arrival of a customer. "There's no time like the present." He smiled.

"No, Tom, I..."

"Yes you can mate. Now go on. I'll be watching. Just keep calm and don't panic. You'll be fine."

"Yes, but will they?" he muttered testily. He reluctantly made his way through the beaded curtain into the cafe, and was confronted with his worst nightmare. Standing at the counter, waiting patiently to be served, was a girl. And not just any girl. A wet girl. She had taken off her sodden coat to reveal an equally wet t-shirt which clung in all the right places. Hal mentally chastised himself. _Not the right places, the wrong places _he thought, averting his eyes. It had always been harder for him with women. He turned to look at Tom with panic stricken eyes, but the werewolf ignored him, smiling encouragingly. "What can I get you?" he mumbled, swallowing hard as he caught her scent.

"Just a tea please. Sorry, I'm dripping everywhere. I got caught out in the rain. By choice. It's a long story." She said, shaking her head and fumbling with her purse.

"That's fifty pence please."

"Thanks." She looked up and smiled at him politely, passing him the money, but as she picked up the tea she frowned and hesitated.

"That's an interesting accent." She said, fiddling with her damp hair distractedly. Hal panicked. He knew flirting when he saw it. _Not again_ he thought.

"Look, I don't want to give you the wrong impression..." he must have been staring just a little too intently, because suddenly Tom was beside him.

"Are you alright mate?" he asked brightly, smiling at the girl to stop her from thinking that anything was wrong. She almost dropped her tea.

"It is you!" she gasped, backing away a few paces. Hal and Tom looked at each other confusedly.

"Sorry?" Hal frowned.

"You helped me last night. That woman. You... you killed her." She stared at Tom.

"Oh. That." He said gingerly. Hal scowled at him for confirming their involvement.

"What was she? Who are you? Why were you there?" she asked, shaking her head dazedly.

"Um." Hal shrugged as Tom looked at him questioningly, seeming to want confirmation that he should tell her the truth. The werewolf turned back to the girl and smiled timidly. He held his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Tom, and this is Hal."

"Bethan." She took his hand and shook it tentatively.

"Nice to meet you Bethan. You might want to sit down."

(I just wanted to mention, if you didn't notice it the first time, have another look at Bethan's call sign (the phonetic alphabet code she uses) when she calls for backup. Yes, it is intentional - it seemed appropriate given the circumstances. Please review and tell me what you think! x)


	2. Cause of Death

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

**Chapter 2: Cause of Death**

"So, what was she?"

"What do you think she was?" Hal asked quietly, still not comfortable with the idea of revealing the truth to this girl.

"A vampire." Bethan answered after a few moments. "No, she can't have been. They don't actually exist. I mean, we'd know about it if they existed wouldn't we? The world would have found out about it by now. No, it was just some hoax. Students or something." She rushed, shaking her head dismissively. Hal kept his face blank, but Tom looked down at the table. Hal hoped she wouldn't notice, that they could let her make her own excuses and go back to her uncomplicated, simple human life. "Shit. She was wasn't she? She was actually a vampire." She stared at Tom, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes." He answered forlornly. She stared straight ahead and nodded her head in quiet acceptance, then swallowed the lump in her throat.

"And she killed that man so she could..."

"Drink his blood. Yea." Tom confirmed, glancing at Hal to check he was still calm at the mention of the word. Hal inclined his head slightly, just enough for Tom to notice.

"Right. And where do you two come in? I mean, you know these creatures exist, and you obviously know how to kill them, so... who are you?" she asked, looking at them both inquisitively.

"A couple of good Samaritans, that's all." Hal smiled, oozing charisma and trying to keep his voice pleasant. He wanted her to go away, forget she had seen them and forget about what had happened. She didn't know the mess she was getting herself involved in.

"What, you just happened to have a... what was it, a spike in your pocket? Completely out of the blue?" she raised an eyebrow at him disbelievingly. He pursed his lips in irritation.

"A stake. Look, it's all over now. What's done is done. You were in trouble, we helped you, the end. Now trust me, you're better off not knowing any more than that. So why don't you just go back to your life, arresting hooligans or whatever you do, and forget you ever found out that we exist." He closed his eyes and sighed, realising his blunder as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"We?" she asked quietly.

"They. I meant they."

"But you **said** we." They sat in silence for a moment, none of them knowing what to say or do next.

"Alright." Tom started, earning himself a warning look from Hal. "Well we might as well tell her now mate. Just, do you promise you won't tell anyone else? No one else can know, do you understand?" he looked at her, his eyes pleading. Hal got up and turned away, feeling his anger rising. Tom was his best friend, but his astonishing naivety could be intensely frustrating at times.

"Yes." Bethan nodded hesitantly.

"Right. Well then he's a vampire and I'm a werewolf." She laughed, thinking he was joking. He frowned in confusion and her face fell suddenly.

"What, you're serious? You're really serious?" Tom nodded. She sat back and took a deep breath, trying to process it all. "If he's a vampire, why hasn't he, you know, attacked me or anything? Not that I'm complaining." She asked him confusedly.

"Hal's a good vampire. He doesn't drink... that stuff, do you mate." Tom smiled at him. Hal bit his lip to stop himself from berating the werewolf.

"Ok, and you're a werewolf." She said disbelievingly.

"Yes." He smiled. "But only once a month, on a full moon."

"And why should I believe you? How do I know you're not just taking the piss?"

"Does this convince you?" Hal spat, his fangs showing. She flinched and he backed away, finding the domino stored safely away in his apron pocket to calm himself. "Sorry." He said dejectedly. "I'm still recovering." Tom stood and patted him on the back, trying to comfort him.

"It's alright mate, you're doing good." He said encouragingly. Bethan watched them blankly. Hal wondered why she was still sitting there. He had expected her to have fled by now, but she just sat there looking puzzled and altogether rather unconcerned. It unnerved him slightly.

"You gave up blood? Why?" she asked him.

"Because I don't want to be a monster anymore." He answered simply.

"You don't sparkle in the sunlight do you?"

"No, why?"

"Just checking. So, if people like you exist, why do I not know about you already? How have you managed to stay hidden?"

"The efforts of vampires mostly. We've tended to want to stay concealed, it's safer that way. The attack last night might be different though. There used to be vampires infiltrating the police force here, but I believe they're all gone now." Hal answered, sitting back down in his chair.

"Gone?"

"Dead."

"Was one of them called Fergus? He disappeared a while ago." She asked after a moment, remembering a rumour from the staff cafe a few months before.

"Yes." Hal said coldly, biting his cheek. She sensed that she had hit a nerve and decided not to push for more detail. She had never worked with him herself, but she had heard he was a bit of a twat, and kept largely to himself. Hearing that he had been a vampire was a shock, but it did explain a few things. It was more difficult to accept that these creatures had been living and working so close, and that they had managed to gain a position of such responsibility.

"I haven't told anyone what I saw. Well, not about the woman... the vampire, or about you two."

"Well then, that might take care of it. These things have a funny way of wrapping themselves up." Hal shrugged.

Bethan stood up, picking up her coat and tea. "This is a lot to take in. I don't want to take up any more of your time, I can see this is making you uncomfortable. But look, thanks. For rescuing me last night and for explaining things. Even if I've got more questions than answers now."

"You'd be surprised how much that happens in our world." Tom grinned.

"Right, well I'm just going to..." she nodded towards the door and sidled through it uncomfortably.

"She was nice." Tom said once she had gone.

"She was terrified. You shouldn't have offered to explain."

"I thought she took it pretty well actually. And anyway, you're the one who let on you're a vampire."

"That's beside the point. Let's just hope she doesn't come back. That'll be all we need." He grumbled, making his way back into the kitchen.

"Do you always have to be such a miserable sod?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Evening boys. Good day at work?" Alex called from the sofa as Hal and Tom made their way through the front door. She noticed the look they shared and assumed the worst. "Oh no. What happened?"

"We had a visitor." Tom said, flopping down on to the sofa next to her.

"Well I should hope so, otherwise the cafe's gonna go bust." She joked, grinning at him. "What sort of visitor?"

"A girl." Alex stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Right... and this is significant because..?"

"Because Tom felt it was acceptable to tell her all about us." Hal grumbled, picking up a nearby newspaper and sitting in the armchair.

"Only after you managed to tell her what you were!" Tom chuckled.

"Uh, how?" Alex grinned and sat forward interestedly.

"A simple slip of the tongue that's all, nothing to get excited about." Hal answered irritably.

"It was the girl we saved last night. She recognised me voice. She just wanted to know what happened, and I thought it was only fair to tell her the truth." Tom answered.

"Fair? We saved her life, isn't that enough?" Hal muttered.

"Well **I** saved her life, you just watched."

"Let's not get bogged down in specifics."

"I thought you were meant to be a gentleman anyway? What happened to helping out damsels in distress?" Alex smirked at Hal.

"Rescuing them is one thing. Talking to them is entirely different."

"And what about drinking their blood?"

"Are you ever going to let that go?" he sighed, looking up from his paper.

"Nope." She smiled back at him sweetly. "Oh well, so what if she knows? She's not exactly going to tell anyone is she."

"Well she's a police officer so I certainly hope not." Hal said, getting back to reading.

"Hey, you could ask her about my body."

"Alex, there are so many issues with that sentence, I don't even know where to begin." Hal shook his head in dismay.

"Alright, try me." She answered defiantly.

"Ok. First off, we saw your body being taken away, and it certainly wasn't by the police. Secondly, as I've mentioned before, asking police officers about murders is ever so slightly suspicious. And third, I'm pretty sure after the events of the past twenty-four hours, we won't be seeing her again."

"Do you two ever stop arguing?" Tom whined.

"Fair enough." Alex said, ignoring Tom. "But if she does come back, you have to ask. Deal?"

"Deal." Hal smiled, confident that he was right. He glanced at his wrist, checking his watch. "Well, delightful as your company is, it's time for my evening sit-ups. See you in an hour."

"See ya." Alex and Tom said uninterestedly. As soon as he was out of earshot, Alex turned to Tom.

"So, how is he getting on really? Any problems?"

"Nah. He's fine, he just worries too much. He even served a few customers today. He's getting there, slowly. We just have to be patient. Help him get his confidence back." He smiled at her, positive despite the trauma of the past few months. It had been a struggle, having Hal going through rehab in the living room. At first he had been wild with rage, almost feral and completely unpleasant to be near. As soon as that had passed, the withdrawal symptoms had kicked in, and that had been horrendous. He'd been sick for days, bright red turning to dark green bile as he purged the blood from his system. He had become skinny, weak and depressed. Fragile. But they had been there for him every step of the way, and eventually, he had told them that he was grateful for what they had done, and they had known that the worst was over. Now it seemed they trusted him more than he trusted himself.

"At least he's safe now. The sooner he realises that the better."

* * *

Four days after her bizarre conversation at the greasy spoon with Tom and Hal, Bethan finally decided that she couldn't take it anymore. She headed to the police station, determined to return to work whatever her supervisor said. Despite the fact that her cosy human world view had been shattered, she had been surprised to feel a sense of relief after her visit to the cafe. It turned out that knowing the truth was better than knowing nothing at all.

She had had a lot on her mind in those four days. Where had these creatures come from? Had they been here a long time? Had she had dealings with them before and simply been unaware of it? Should she tell anyone about them? She had considered going back to cafe to get her answers, but she had a feeling she wouldn't be welcome. Well, not by Hal anyway. He had seemed uncomfortable with her questions at best, and she didn't want to rile him. There was a danger that seemed to hang in the air around him. But Tom had said that he didn't drink blood any more, and he hadn't exactly been aggressive, just evasive.

So after lying awake for hours for yet another night, she had come to the conclusion that she was just going to have to accept it, and forget about it. If she hadn't heard about them, they couldn't be that much of a threat. She couldn't go on with the obsessive wondering at any rate. She needed a distraction, and work beckoned, appealing to her more now than it had since her first day on the beat. She would have to keep hold of that, the feeling of actually wanting to go to work in the morning. It had been a foreign concept for years now.

Getting on with her life without a second thought for the supernatural had sounded straightforward at first, but upon arriving at the station, she was greeted with news that made her wonder if she was just fooling herself. There had been an assault in the last few days. Nothing strange there, except the victim was adamant that his attacker had had fangs. The other officers were still laughing at his account, particularly as a set of plastic fancy dress vampire fangs had been found nearby, but the case was still a little too close to home for Bethan's liking.

Sitting at a vacant desk to catch up on her previous week's paperwork, it wasn't long before she was drifting off deep in thought again. Without really knowing what she was looking for, she had logged onto the computer and was trawling through the electronic records. What she found was disturbing. Crime reports of animal attacks, strange murders, invisible men, that now seemed more than just a compilation of Barry's weirdest incidents. Now they seemed frighteningly real. She shut the computer down, trying to convince herself that she was just seeing things with different eyes now, and that the reports were probably unconnected with anything supernatural.

The day passed without incident, and with all of her paperwork completed, she headed out of the office to make her way home.

"Here comes trouble. What are you doing here? I thought Perkins had you on leave?" A familiar voice called from behind her.

"You know me, I just can't keep away." She smiled. Rhys jogged to catch her up, and she resisted the urge to sigh, wanting only to be home and tucked up on the sofa with a big glass of wine.

"How have you been? It was a pretty gruesome scene, how you been bearing up?"

"Oh, you know. I'm alright, just got bored at home."

"Well, if you feel bored and alone tonight, or you want me to transport you to paradise to distract you, I'd be glad to be of assistance." He smirked, trying to look innocent. Bethan shook her head amusedly. They had gone through training together, and had become friends quickly. However, Rhys had never exactly been subtle about the fact that he wanted more. It had become a good natured joke between them, but despite the fact that he played up to it, she knew he meant it. Not that she was the sole object of his affections. He had amassed quite a reputation around the station, and quite a collection of one night stands.

"I think I'll be fine, but thanks for the offer." She chuckled.

"Going solo then. No worries. Just make sure you're thinking of me yea." he grinned, winking. She shook her head again, smiling. He might be crude, verging on offensive, but he had a knack for making her laugh when she most needed cheering up. A thought suddenly occurred to her, stopping her in her tracks. Rhys had been working on the murder case. He was only community support, the same as her, but he might have heard if there had been any breakthroughs.

"So has the verdict from the coroner come through yet on the murder victim?" she asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"Yea, haven't they told you yet? Cause of death has been confirmed as catastrophic blood loss," she nodded, the news just what she had expected, "from a knife wound to the throat." She froze and swallowed hard, only just managing to keep her composure. An ice cold chill flooded the pit of her stomach, making her feel vaguely queasy.

"A knife wound?" she questioned.

"Yea, you know. He was stabbed." He emphasised his point with a Hammer Horror style slasher gesture. "CID found a knife in the alley. No prints on it, but it was a match for the wound. Are you alright? You've gone all pale." Bethan shook herself back to reality.

"Yea, I just didn't eat lunch."

"Do you want me to take you home? You know, not in a shag your brains out kind of way, just in a helping out a sick friend way." He smiled, though she could see that he was concerned.

"No, honestly, I'm fine. Thanks Rhys. See you tomorrow."

"No problem baby cakes. Catch you later." He winked before carrying on down the corridor.

So it seemed that Hal had been wrong. This wasn't just wrapping itself up, someone was behind it. And not just the coroner either, someone with access to CID's records, the crime scene, and potentially even the evidence room. Could there still be vampires working alongside her and her fellow officers? Whether or not that was the case, she still had plenty of questions that needed answering, and there was only one place she could go to get those. She would have to go back to the cafe.


	3. We Meet Again

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

Thank you to whimsyfox and Saemay for the reviews so far! Enjoy! x

**Chapter 3: We Meet Again**

"Looks like your little mate's been up to his old tricks again. Over."

"Not again. Where this time? Over." Bethan sighed into the radio.

"The Cafe On The Corner, off Alexandra Road. You know it? It's close to the murder scene, will you be alright to attend? Over."

"Yes, fine. I'm only five minutes away. Over." Bethan shook her head at the misplaced concern of the controller on the other end of the radio. Why could people not just accept that she was fine?

As she arrived outside the cafe, she hesitated, taking a deep breath. Deciding that she needed to return to get some more answers had been the easy part. Actually going there hadn't been so simple. It wasn't that she was scared of Tom and Hal, not quite anyway. It was simply that she didn't know what to say to them. Tom was friendly enough, but Hal had made it pretty clear that she wasn't welcome. He had been polite, most of the time at least, but it was abundantly clear that he didn't like her knowing their secret. She wasn't exactly comfortable about it herself. But fate had made the decision for her, and here she was, about to go to their assistant for once. Well, in a manner of speaking...

"Police." She called, knocking on the door after finding it locked. She heard footsteps approaching and the scraping of metal on metal as the bolt across the top of the door was released.

"You? Uh... I mean... hello." Hal frowned as he opened the door. He seemed genuinely abashed by his first brusque attempt at a greeting, even attempting a solemn smile as he stepped aside and gestured courteously for her to come in.

"False imprisonment! They've took me hostage they have! I weren't doin' nothin' wrong B!" Billy shouted, standing up as soon as she entered. Tom had been leaning lazily against the wall next to him, but stood up straight as soon as he saw her.

"That's Officer Arthur to you. What did he do?" she asked.

"He tried to run off with a burger and chips without paying, so we locked him in and called you." Tom explained.

"Right, well. I'd better call for transport then hadn't I Billy." She said, pulling her radio from its holster.

"You don't have to do that do you? It was only a burger B." Billy whined.

"I'm sorry Billy but this keeps happening, and I have warned you before haven't I?" she shook her head and brought the radio to her mouth.

"I'll pay for it then, here!" Bethan let her thumb hover over the button on the radio for dramatic effect, as he fumbled in his pockets and emptied a handful of change out onto the table. "Jus' don't take me down to custody again. My sister said she'd thump me if she had to bail me out again this year." He pleaded. She narrowed her eyes at him, but turned to Hal and Tom.

"Mr..?"

"Yorke."

"Mr.?."

"McNair."

"Mr Yorke, Mr McNair, if I could have a word please." They looked at each other bemusedly and followed her to the other side of the cafe.

"If he pays up, I'd like to let him go with a warning, is that Ok with you both?"

"I don't see why not."

"No!" Tom and Hal answered at the same time.

"Come on Hal, it's hardly the crime of the century." Tom appealed to the irritated vampire.

"But it is a crime. And by the sounds of it, this isn't the first time he's done it either." Hal protested.

"No it's not. But he's a good kid really and he's had a hard time of it at home." Bethan explained, trying to appeal to the better nature she wasn't sure he possessed.

"A hard time! He doesn't know the meaning of the phrase!" Hal snapped, just managing to keep his voice down.

"Oh and I expect you've always been an angel haven't you?" she retorted crossly. He stared at her, stunned.

"She does have a point mate." Tom said, failing miserably at stopping himself from grinning.

"Fine! But he's barred and if I so much as see him in here, I'm calling the police again." He huffed sulkily.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "Alright Billy, these nice gentlemen have agreed to let you pay up and be on your way. But be warned, the next time I hear you've been up to anything dodgy, I will arrest you alright? And believe me, I am not kidding."

"Thanks B." He smiled apologetically at her.

"Officer Arthur. Now sling your hook before I change my mind." He ran for the door and out into the street, leaving the money on the table.

"So. We meet again." She said, trying to lighten the mood. "I've been meaning to come back..."

"Don't tell me, you've got more questions." Hal said testily, grabbing a cloth and beginning to wipe the tables in a peculiar, precise square motion.

"Yes, but it's not what you might think." He stood up straight and studied her for a moment, his curiosity getting the better of him. She took the opportunity to sit down at one of the tables, and he moved cautiously to join her.

"I won't be a minute, I just need to make a phone call." Tom excused himself before diving into the kitchen. She watched nervously as he disappeared, a little uncomfortable at the thought of being left alone with a slightly peeved vampire. She shrugged the feeling away and turned her attention back to Hal. He seemed to be the one with all the answers anyway, and if he did try to attack her, she could always just punch him. She balled her hands into fists under the table, just incase.

"The coroner's report on the vampire's victim came back. You were wrong. I think someone is trying to cover this up from the inside."

"It's possible."

"But you said you didn't think there were any vampires left at the police station?" she questioned.

"I could be wrong. I don't associate with other vampires nowadays. You know in the long run, it might not be such a bad thing if there is."

"What do you mean?"

"There's only one reason vampires ever pose as police officers, and that's to help with the clean-up operation. Pardon the expression. We've been keeping ourselves and other supernaturals secret for years by that method, among others. And you yourself have been keeping quiet about what happened, have you not?" he asked, the tone of his voice ensuring she knew it was a question and not a statement.

"Of course. Don't worry about that. I know enough about the human race to see it would be catastrophic for them to find out about you lot. And I'm not about to drop you and Tom in it." He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. "So what, I just sit back and watch while it all gets swept under the carpet?"

"Yes. Keep yourself to yourself and don't dig any deeper into this. If it is vampires it wouldn't be safe."

"Be careful, I might start thinking you care." She smirked, feeling braver. She even unclenched her fists.

"Of course he cares, he's a big softy really aren't you Hal." Tom grinned, appearing again from the kitchen. Hal pursed his lips irritably.

"Jesus!" he jumped suddenly, staring past Bethan at something. She whipped her head around, startled, but found nothing alarming, just empty tables and chairs. She raised an eyebrow, wondering if there was something wrong with him. She looked to Tom for help but he was just chuckling at his friend. "What do you want?" And now he was talking to nothing. She wondered if she should move away from him, just to be safe.

"Just checking that you're honouring our little deal." Alex grinned at him.

"How did you know she was here? And anyway, I can't ask her to do that now. Things have changed." He shook his head.

"I asked Tom to call me if she came back. And look, here she is." She smiled smugly.

"Can't ask me to do what?" Bethan asked confusedly. "Who are you talking to?"

"Alex. She lives with us, but she's a ghost so you can't see or hear her." Tom explained. "Bethan, meet Alex. Alex, meet Bethan."

"Uh, hi... Alex. Not that this should come as a great shock, but ghosts are real too?"

"Yes." Hal answered surprisingly softly.

"Of course they are. Silly me." She muttered.

"Yea, tell her I said hi, what's changed exactly?" Alex asked, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

"It looks like there could be a vampire working at the police station. We can't exactly ask her to look into your murder, it's too risky."

"Why? I know **who **killed me, I just need to know who moved my body and... what they've done with it." She finished uncomfortably.

"I think we can safely assume it wasn't the police who removed your body from the basement, otherwise it would have been returned to your family by now."

"Yes, but you said it yourself, it wasn't vampires either." She argued.

"I'm sorry, body? Basement? Murder? What exactly do you want me to do?" Bethan asked, perplexed.

"Ask her Hal." Alex demanded.

"No."

"Do it!"

"No!"

"Tom, make him ask!"

"I'm staying out of it, this is between you two." The werewolf held his hands up and sat down next to Bethan.

"Fine then. I'll do it myself." Alex stormed behind the counter.

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Hal asked dismissively. Alex emerged triumphant, waving a piece of chalk and a cloth at him. She strode over to the chalk board menu and with a broad sweep, wiped away a section of the lettering. Tom gaped. Beside him, Bethan was torn between looking at the writing forming via an invisible hand on the board, or at Hal's outraged face. "Alex! Stop it! I spent half the afternoon filling in that board! Do you know how much concentration that takes!?"

"Well then I'm doing you a favour aren't I. You're always looking for things to do." She answered calmly, carrying on with the writing. He growled at her and shut his eyes, seeming to be trying to keep a lid on his temper.

Slowly, the message became clear:

_I was killed by a ____vampire__ dick head called Cutler. You think that's bad afterwards I got stuck in a basement with Hal. My body was taken away by some blokes in grey suits and never given back to my family. We think that's why I can't go through my door or whatever. Please could you look into the case for me, and see where my body was taken? Alex._

"A few months ago there was a bomb hoax at a nightclub in town. Well that's what it was reported as anyway. It was part of a cover-up. Tom transformed in the club..." Hal began to explain, cut off by the sound of the chalk banging on the blackboard again, alerting them to more of Alex's writing.

_Because of that bastard Cutler again._

"Yes, thank you Alex. Because of Cutler. Anyway, long story short, we watched them take Alex's body away and have no idea what happened after that. Alex would like you to look into the police file of that incident to see if there is any record of a murder or a body." He finished. Alex smiled smugly at him and he rolled his eyes.

"I'll see what I can do." Bethan nodded, first at Hal then at the space next to the blackboard where she assumed Alex was standing.

"Great!" Alex grinned.

"Just be careful. Don't let anyone know what you're doing and don't dig too deep. If you think someone's paying attention to you, stop." Hal warned. Tom got up and walked over to the counter, rummaging behind it for a moment.

"Here, take this." He said, passing her a stake. She took it, feeling the point tentatively.

"Thanks. I can't promise anything, but I'll try." She looked up as Alex hastily scribbled the address of the B&B onto the blackboard.

"What? She's hardly a threat is she?" Alex responded to the indignant look that Hal shot her.

"Anyway I'd better be off. Work to do. I'll get back to you when I know anything." Bethan nodded her goodbyes to Hal and Tom, and in the direction of the chalkboard for Alex, and made her way out of the cafe.


	4. A Word Of Warning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

Thank you again for the reviews so far. I have made this one a little longer as that seems to be what you wanted in your feedback, so enjoy, and please review to let me know what you think! x

**Chapter 4: A Word Of Warning**

"Put it this way Hal, if you don't turn that off in the next ten seconds, I'm going to rentaghost the whole record player somewhere far, far away."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." Alex glared at him determinedly. Hal sighed and pointed the remote control at the player, pausing the record.

"Happy now." He glowered.

"Ecstatic." She smiled smugly.

"Good. Because you won't be smiling when I've killed hundreds of innocent Welshmen and women after you've made me snap." He grumbled, his tone purposefully menacing.

"Oh knock it off and stop sulking. What are you, five-hundred going on five? You're not going to kill anyone just because I made you turn off that racket."

"It's not a racket, it's the lute. It's soothing."

"I've got news for you. It's not."

"To the uncultured ear perhaps not." He smiled at her mockingly.

"At least my ears aren't bloody ancient. Maybe that's why you think it sounds good, you're hearing's going in your old age."

"If my hearing's going it's only because of your incessant whining." He muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was meant to just get on with being dead and not complain at all. My mistake!"

"Because your life is so hard."

"Give it a rest Hal, we all know how difficult you've had it. Trust me, we know."

"You know sometimes, I wish I'd left you in that basement!" As soon as he'd said the words, he registered the look of hurt that flashed across Alex's face and regretted it instantly. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm sorry Alex. I didn't mean that."

"It's fine." She answered, but it was clear that he'd upset her. He sighed and stood up.

"I really didn't mean it. I just let my temper get the better of me sometimes. You know that. What happened to you was my fault and I want to help you find closure. I'm glad to help. And you looked after me when I needed you. I owe you and Tom everything, and you don't deserve me losing my rag at you like that, so I'm sorry. Look, I don't make a habit of this, but Tom says I need to... open up more and be... sensitive, so..." He opened his arms and stepped towards her hesitantly. He grimaced as his arms closed around her stiffly.

"Oh, Ok... uh... that's alright. I forgive you." She smiled, patting him on the back. Tom wandered in from the hallway, stopping abruptly as he noticed the awkward embrace. Hal and Alex broke apart uncomfortably.

"Am I interrupting something?" Tom asked quietly.

"No!" Hal and Alex shouted in unison, shaking their heads and backing away from each other.

"I thought I heard you arguing?" he frowned.

"We were. I lost my temper again." Hal looked at the floor sadly.

"I did provoke you. It wasn't just your fault." Alex offered, smiling at him sympathetically, but he only looked up at her ashamedly.

"Hal, when I went in the kitchen earlier, I noticed the knives and forks are all mixed up in the drawer..."

"Ah, not for long they're not!" Tom glanced at Alex and grinned as Hal strode into the kitchen purposefully, already seeming happier.

"I knew that'd cheer him up." he smiled at her, sitting down on the sofa.

"I should know by now not to rise to it. He can't help having a temper."

"He needs to learn to live with it. And anyway, I think he enjoys a good argument sometimes. He only feels bad when he says something nasty, and at least now he realises when he's gone too far." Tom shrugged, flicking on the TV.

"Yea, that's true. I can't believe he actually hugged me. Poor guy must want a shower now after showing that much affection." Their laughter was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps outside and the doorbell ringing. They looked at each other confusedly for a moment before Tom jumped up from the sofa and made his way into the hallway. Alex peered through the curtains and smiled excitedly.

"Hello." Tom beamed as the door opened to reveal Bethan on the doorstep.

"Hi." She smiled unsurely. "I can't stop long, but I thought I'd pop by to tell you. I have some news for Alex."

Hal came through the kitchen doors as Tom led Bethan into the lounge.

"Bethan, hello. Would you like anything to drink, tea perhaps?" Hal asked politely.

"Uh, no, I'm alright, I'm not stopping. But thank you." She answered, slightly taken aback by his courteousness. "I had a look at the case report. It's been officially closed and filed as a disturbance, so you were right, it certainly wasn't the police who took Alex's... wait, is she here?"

"Yea, she's there." Tom pointed towards the window.

"Right, so it wasn't us that took your body away Alex. As far as the official documentation is concerned, there was a bomb hoax and that was all. However, I kept reading, just in case, and I did find something interesting. It is mentioned in one paragraph that blood was noticed at the scene, in the basement. But there was never any investigation into it, no samples, no photographs, nothing. And there's no other mention of it in the report, which makes it look like they left it in by accident."

"So, they found blood but they did nothing about it?" Alex asked, gesturing for Hal to repeat the question so Bethan could hear it.

"They didn't investigate the blood further?"

"No. Usually, given the amount that was found, they would have launched a full blown murder investigation, assault at least, but it was just forgotten. Are you alright?" she asked, noticing Hal looking a little queasy.

"Yes, fine." He smiled weakly.

"Maybe you wouldn't feel so bad if you hadn't drunk it. And licked it off the floor." Alex smiled sweetly at him and he flashed a glare at her.

"I also took the liberty of looking into your disappearance Alex. Your missing persons file. I take it this is you?" Bethan held up a poster with a picture of Alex on it. She jumped slightly as the ghost stepped forward and gingerly took the piece of paper from her. She nodded sadly at Hal.

"Yes, that's her." He confirmed solemnly. Tom got up and rubbed Alex on the back as she bravely held back tears, the poster yet another reminder that she was dead.

"Well, that's interesting too, because according to the report, you've been confirmed as dead. The case was only left open for a few days, despite the fact that your body hasn't been found. And that is worrying."

"Worrying? How so?" Hal asked.

"Because it means this may well go higher up the command chain than we thought."

"How high?"

"Very. The blood not being investigated is bad enough, but you can't just sweep bodies and missing persons under the carpet without having considerable power behind you."

"Then you need to stop now. Thank you for doing what you have, you've been very kind, but that has to be an end to it."

"I know. I wish I could do more. I'm sorry I couldn't find out more about where they took your body Alex."

"It's fine, it's not like we knew it was the thing holding me back anyway." She said glumly, forgetting for a minute that Bethan couldn't hear her.

"Right well, I'd better be off. If you need anything else, you know, policey, I'd be glad to help. Like a contact on the inside or something. Just incase." Tom followed her back towards the front door to let her out.

"Wait!" Alex cried, rentaghosting out of the room as he reached for the latch. Hal looked up in confusion as he heard things being moved around and footsteps upstairs. She appeared back in the hallway, and Bethan tentatively took the floating piece of card that Alex thrust at her.

_Thank you._ It read, in the same scrawled handwriting as the message on the cafe chalkboard.

"My pleasure." Bethan smiled. "Bye."

"Are you alright Alex?" Hal asked as she and Tom came back into the lounge.

"Yea. It just brings it all home, that's all. I know you think I want to sort out my unfinished business and just pass on, but I don't. Well, not straight away anyway. Hanging around and being a ghost, it's not so terrible once you get used to it. And you two aren't so bad yourselves either." She smiled at them, though a hint of sadness still remained. "Still, it would be nice to know what they did with my body. I want my family to have closure, even if I can't." she sighed, sitting back down on the sofa.

"It's only been a few months, maybe your body will turn up of its own accord. Perhaps whoever it was is just leaving some time to let the dust settle." Hal said, coming to join her.

"Yea, maybe. Hey so what shall we watch tonight then?" she beamed, changing the subject.

"Masterchef's on in a minute? What about that? I like seeing how they make all those things with weird names, like the soup with little bits of bread in it and that." Tom said, sitting on Alex's other side on the sofa.

"Croutons?" Hal offered.

"Yea, that's the ones! And why do they always make such little portions? It's a good show though isn't it?"

"It is. I always find it very soothing." Hal smiled happily. Alex looked at them both in disbelief before settling in to the sofa.

"Well, if you can't beat 'em..." she muttered under her breath, smiling to herself.

* * *

As Bethan left the B&B, she was unaware of the man watching her from his parked car down the street. He pondered the reason for her short visit, and not for the first time, wondered if he should have the house bugged. Still, considering his usual clientele, this lot were practically angels, and the body count attributed to them had remained astonishingly low. He had always thought there was something vaguely disturbing about different Types of supernaturals living together though, and although he would never admit it, it made him slightly uneasy.

And now there was this human girl involved as well, a police officer no less. She couldn't know what they were could she? Well it seemed she did, if the digging she had been doing was anything to go by. And that intrigued him. Alas, she had delved deeper into this world than he could allow, and she would have to be dissuaded from proceeding any further. It was for her own good in any case. Not that that was any consolation to him.

* * *

The next day, Bethan was finishing off some paperwork in the staff kitchen when her mobile phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello Miss Arthur."

"Who is this?"

"That's not important Miss Arthur. I wanted to discuss a matter of utmost importance with you, if I may?"

"Is this a joke? Is someone playing silly buggers?" Bethan asked, hoping she was right.

"I assure you Miss Arthur, this is no joke. It involves the files you've been looking at." She could almost hear the man on the end of the phone smiling as he gained the upper hand right from the start.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do Miss Arthur. A certain murder that you were a witness to, and the disappearance of a tourist a few months ago. Does that ring any bells?" Bethan closed her eyes.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot. Now, while I'm sure you've found this world that you've uncovered rather intriguing, I urge you to forget all you've seen and heard. Wipe it from your memory. Lock it away and never speak of it to anyone. Is that clear Miss Arthur?"

"Listen. I don't know who you think you bloody well are to call me up and make demands, but I am sure as hell not going to listen to a disembodied voice on the end of a phone telling me what to do, and you can rest assured, I do not respond well to threats. So, I'll ask again. Who are you?" she growled, hoping her fear was covered by the anger in her voice.

"Not someone you need concern yourself with Miss Arthur. You mistake me. I am certainly not threatening you. Not yet anyway. But you keep poking your nose in where it's not wanted and I can't promise the situation will remain as such."

"You coward. You're not even brave enough to speak to me in person."

"Oh Miss Arthur, believe me, it's better that we don't meet. For your sake. Just stay away from the supernatural and there will be no need for me to contact you again. Goodbye Miss Arthur." The line went dead, and Bethan stared at the phone for a minute, wondering what she should do. It frustrated her, but she could only resign herself to do as the man on the phone had said. After all, he didn't sound like someone she wanted to provoke. The mystery of Alex's body would have to remain unsolved, for now at least.

After the phone call from the mystery man, Bethan threw herself into her work to take her mind off of all things supernatural. It was another two weeks before she saw the residents of the B&B again...

* * *

"Uh, guys, why is there a police car outside?" Alex called, peering through a gap in the blinds.

"A what?" Hal asked worriedly, coming to see for himself. Two uniformed officers made their way up the garden path towards the front door.

"Shit! What do we do?" Alex turned to Hal, knocking the blinds in the process. The police officers stopped, pointing towards the window as they noticed the movement.

"Wonderful, now they know we're in." Hal growled at her. She mouthed a "sorry" at him and he shook his head irritably. "It's a bit late for that." The officers reached the front door and rang the doorbell. Hal made his way slowly into the hallway, opening the porch door hesitantly and taking a moment to compose himself before opening the outer door.

"Good afternoon sir. We were hoping to speak to a Mr Tom McNair."

"Uh... may I ask the reason for your visit?" Hal frowned.

"Are you Mr McNair?"

"Well... no, but..."

"Then we really need to speak to him, is he in?" Tom chose that moment to come pounding down the stairs, his usual cheerful self.

"That's me. Can I help you?" he smiled brightly.

"We've had a report that some damage was caused to a car on this street in the early hours of the morning. An allegation's been made that you might be the perpetrator."

"The perpa- what?"

"We're going to have to take you down to the station to discuss this further I'm afraid Mr McNair."

"But, I haven't done anything. You can ask Hal, I was here all night wasn't I Hal?" he looked to the vampire hopefully.

"It's true officers, he was. I'm afraid it seems you've had a wasted journey." Hal smiled charmingly, hoping that would be enough to make them leave.

"Still, we need to take you in, just so that we can carry out a thorough investigation. Hold your arms out infront of you please." Tom obliged as one of the officers put him in handcuffs, the other frisking him quickly.

"I can assure you, you're making a mistake. Jesus, this is ridiculous." Hal protested.

"How long are we going to be, it's just, I've got somewhere I need to be tonight." Tom asked worriedly. Hal scrubbed a hand through his hair, remembering what tonight was. A full moon.

"As long as it takes Mr McNair. We might need to keep you in overnight." One of the officers explained, leading him towards the car. Tom turned and stared wide eyed at Hal and Alex. "Come along, don't make this difficult or we'll have to call for a van and you'll be charged with resisting arrest as well."

"Just, go with them Tom! We'll follow you and we'll figure out what to do! We'll get you out before tonight, don't worry!" Alex shouted to him as they bundled him into the car.

"Come on. We'd better think of something fast, or Barry police station is going to have one hell of an angry prisoner on its hands in a few hours." Hal grumbled, grabbing his car keys from the bowl in the hallway and slamming the front door behind him.

* * *

"Looks like we're out on patrol together this evening, you lucky girl." Rhys grinned, walking into the kit room.

"Have you seen the weather, it's bloody horrible out there! We're going to be soaked by the end of our shift." Bethan smiled, tucking her hair into her hat.

"Yea, but it does have one plus side."

"What's that?"

"I get to see you all wet and sexy." He winked at her.

"Ha! Wet and sexy? Yes, because I rock the soggy cold look." She laughed. "Come on, we'd better go. Barry's criminals won't arrest themselves."

As they made their way out of the station and into the torrential Welsh rain, a blue classic car pulled up at the side of the road just ahead of them. Bethan stopped dead as the driver got out hurriedly and jogged towards the police station.

"Hal?" she called, recognising him as he passed them. He stopped and turned, seeming startled.

"Bethan!" he exclaimed relievedly. Alex, who had been following behind him, came to a halt at his side.

"Hey, maybe she can help us?" she suggested. He flashed her a withering look that screamed _I'm not an idiot._

"What are you doing here? What's going on?" Bethan asked.

"It's Tom. He's managed to get himself arrested and it's, well, you know... that time of the month." He glanced up at the sky, just in case she'd forgotten what happened to werewolves on a full moon.

"Oh, right. I see." she looked at her watch. "How long have we got?"

"A few hours perhaps. We need to get him home." He glanced at Rhys warily, concerned at what the other man was making of their odd conversation.

"Alright, Rhys, could you go on ahead without me? I'll catch you up, I just need to see what's going on." Bethan asked, hoping he wouldn't argue.

"Ok. Just make sure you're not too long. I hate doing foot patrols on my own." He frowned, eyeing Hal suspiciously.

"Thanks. See you in a bit." She called over her shoulder as she led Hal, and unbeknownst to her Alex, towards the station. "You'll have to wait here. I'll go straight through to custody to see what I can do."

"I'll go with her." Alex told him, following Bethan through a heavy wooden door before he had a chance to protest.

As they arrived in the custody suite, they were relieved to see Tom leant against the desk, head in his hands and with a look on his face akin to a scolded puppy. Upon hearing the door open, he looked up hopefully.

"Alex!" he cried, then realised no one else in the room could see her. Bethan looked at the empty space beside her and fought the urge to smile. Knowing Alex was there as well was oddly comforting.

"Alright Matt, what's he been brought in for?" she asked the custody sergeant casually.

"Oh, alright Bethan. What are you doing here? You know him?" he frowned, looking up from the paperwork he had been filling in.

"Yea, you could say that. So, what's he meant to have done?"

"We had a complaint made against him. Criminal damage. It seems Mr McNair here may have been responsible for a smashed car window last night."

"It weren't me, I swear." Tom sighed frustratedly.

"Well, we'll see. I've got a witness who thinks he saw you doing it, so I still have to book you in and take your finger prints and a DNA sample. It's procedure." Tom's eyes went wide at the mention of a DNA sample.

"Last night you say? What time?" Bethan asked, stalling for time while she tried to come up with a plan.

"Two in the morning. Why?" Matt asked curiously.

"Oh well, it couldn't have been him." Bethan gulped. "Because I was with him." Tom frowned, and beside her, Alex raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"You were with him? What... all night?"

"Yes. All night." Bethan looked at the floor and winced.

"I see... And you'd be happy to give a statement to that effect?" Matt questioned, the hint of a smile playing on his features.

"Yes." Bethan sighed.

"Well, well Mr McNair. It appears you're not our man after all. You're free to go. Perhaps Officer Arthur will escort you out." He chuckled, winking at Tom. The werewolf flushed red, and scowled at Alex as she burst out laughing.

"You didn't have to say that." Tom said as soon as they were outside.

"It was the only thing I could think of! I'm a police officer, if I tell them I was with you, they're going to believe me. And anyway, Hal tells me you have somewhere you need to be."

"I'm not annoyed, I'm worried about your reputation. You know, your honour and all that." He looked at the ground ashamedly.

"I did just make it up Tom, we didn't actually spend the night together." She chuckled.

"But they don't know that." He said sadly.

"Oh, they'll get over it. I'm sure Matt wasn't that surprised. Not that I do that sort of thing all the time or anything!" she held her hands up, realising what she had made herself sound like.

"Hal's going to love this." Alex grinned. Tom flushed again.

"Oh no, Alex, don't..." he sighed as she disappeared.

"Did you do it though?" Bethan asked after a moment.

"No. Hal thinks one of our neighbours doesn't like us because of all the noise." He explained.

"Noise?"

"Yea. I get a bit loud when I'm transforming. Screaming and that." He shrugged.

"Right. Of course." She nodded, still processing the fact that she was talking to a werewolf. When they arrived back where Bethan had left Hal, he and Alex were stood together grinning.

"Right, well if that's all for tonight, I've got work to be doing. Try and stay out of trouble!" she smiled and pointed a finger at the boys in mock warning.

"Oh don't you worry about that, we're going straight home." Hal smiled. "Come on. Tonight you'll be spending your evening on a date with the basement, rather than with a fictitious police woman."

"Excuse me, but that's police **officer** thank you very much, and I am not fictitious. It was only the act that was made up!" Bethan laughed before walking away in the direction that Rhys had gone earlier.

It was odd how comfortable she felt around them now. Even lying to her colleagues had felt natural. She had done it for the right reasons of course. Preventing a werewolf from transforming in custody was pretty important to say the least. But it was more than that. She felt as though she was part of something. She'd been living a lie all her life, and she'd uncovered the truth. And now that she knew about the supernatural, she couldn't forget, despite the warning from the man who had called her two weeks before. This world was addictive, and everything else seemed dull in comparison. She could only hope that whoever it was that had called her had been bluffing.


	5. Corvus frugilegus

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

**Chapter 5: Corvus frugilegus**

Bethan fumbled her keys from her pocket and opened the front door. Climbing up the stairs to her flat had been the last straw, and she was more than ready for her microwave meal for one, a hot shower and bed. _The glamorous life of a twenty-five year old woman _she thought to herself wearily. She stumbled into the living room in the dark, not wanting to risk touching anything electric in her bedraggled state. Getting electrocuted would be the icing on the cake after the week she'd had. And it wouldn't even have been the strangest thing to have happened. Releasing a werewolf from custody by lying to her colleagues about her sexual endeavours had probably won that prize. And it had been nothing short of exhilarating.

A chorus of loud meows greeted her as Toby made his presence known, running in from the kitchen and almost tripping her up.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm just about to feed you, just let me get my coat off before I drip everywhere." She mumbled to the cat. But he ignored her, running straight past and crouching by the sofa. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm afraid I might be the cause of his distress." A masculine voice said from the darkness. Bethan gasped and staggered backwards, only just catching herself as her back met the wall closest to the door.

"Who the fuck are you?! How did you get in?" she stuttered, just making out the shadowy figure on the other side of the room.

"I'm very good at locks. We've spoken before Miss Arthur, on the phone a few weeks ago. My name is Mr Rook." She was sure he was smiling. He sounded as smug now as he had then.

"I haven't done any more digging." She shook her head, her breathing getting back to normal, but her heart still thumping furiously.

"That's not the only reason I'm here Miss Arthur. I believe you had a run-in with a certain werewolf and vampire a few days ago." He stated casually.

"Yes. How do you know about that? Were you there?" she questioned, trying to convince herself she felt brave.

"As I said before, I know a lot."

"Alright, then what do you want?" she asked defiantly.

"You have spirit. I like that. I admire it." He drawled, making her skin crawl a little.

"You could let me see who I'm talking to at least. You owe me that much."

"I owe you nothing. But as you wish." He hardly moved as he flicked the stand-lamp beside him on, the bright light flooding the room and making Bethan blink. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust enough to look at him, but when she did, she was surprised. He wasn't as she had imagined him. Relatively short and weedy, impeccably dressed in a grey suit. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back and the hint of a smile on his lips. The image of a gentleman. His ice cold eyes told a different story however, and she fought the urge to shiver.

"Right. Now tell me what you want."

"You're very demanding aren't you Miss Arthur. Patience is a virtue."

"How patient do you think you'd be if someone broke into your home?" she glared, feeling more confident now that she could see him.

"Quite right. Forgive the intrusion, it's just that I felt we needed a little chat, seeing as our phone conversation seems to have fallen on deaf ears."

"I told you, I stopped looking at the files. What was I meant to do, just let him change in the cells?"

"Your concern regarding that incident was misplaced. I would have dealt with Mr McNair before any unfortunate events took place."

"How can you be sure about that?"

"Because it is my job Miss Arthur. And I can assure you, when it comes to my job I am very thorough."

"Is that it then? You've come to remind me to stay away from them?" she asked irritably.

"What you do is no concern of mine. What happens as a result of your actions is though. But it's not just that. I've been watching you quite closely Miss Arthur. I'm a busy man and I don't lavish my attention on just anybody Bethan. May I call you Bethan?"

"No." came her blunt response through gritted teeth.

"Very well, Miss Arthur it is then." He smiled with infuriating charm. "I believe you have potential."

"Potential? For what?" she asked warily.

"For joining me."

"Please tell me that isn't a euphemism." His chuckle set her teeth on edge.

"I wouldn't allow myself to be distracted by such simple pleasures. No, what I want you for is something much more meaningful. You might have already got the jist of what I do. I work to cover up the clues that these supernatural creatures leave behind them. I clear up the messes they leave behind. My colleagues and I are the sole reason that you had never heard of vampires or werewolves before last month. Most humans react badly when first exposed to this world, you seem to have embraced it. Your fascination has not gone unnoticed. I'll be honest with you, my methods are sometimes a little... immoral. It's not a simple life, and it's hard work, but I can promise you exhilaration, purpose, and rather a generous benefits package. What do you say Miss Arthur. Would you rather stay here dealing with the hoodies and vagabonds of boring Barry, or come with me and do some real work?"

Bethan stared at him for a moment. She realised to her shock that she was actually considering his offer. She wanted more from life, and here he was offering it to her. She remembered what he was and shook herself back to reality.

"I think I'll give it a miss thanks. I know what you are and I have no intention of going the same way so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you to leave now."

"And what, pray tell, do you think I am exactly?" he smiled amusedly, but as he made his way towards her, she could see the irritation in his eyes.

"Are we really going to play this game?" She felt for the stake she had concealed behind her back. She had carried it with her ever since Tom had given it to her, and it seemed now that she had had the right idea. She held it out infront of her, and he stopped. "You're a vampire." He chuckled again, and she swallowed, her confidence rapidly vanishing.

"I am not one of those creatures. I'm human, just like you. Does that make my offer more attractive?"

"Human? Still, that doesn't matter. I'm happy where I am thanks." She answered him levelly, letting her arm drop to her side.

"You're not happy. But never mind that. You've made your choice. I must say, I'm disappointed."

"I'm sure you'll get over it. Now get out."

"Oh, we're not finished here. Now that you've turned me down, I must reiterate my earlier sentiments, except this time, you'll listen. You **will **stay away from anything supernatural, including the residents of that B&B. And you will never repeat the conversation we've just had. Am I making myself clear?" he narrowed his eyes and moved towards her again, closing the gap between them and maximising his height advantage.

"And what exactly will you do if I refuse? I've dealt with people like you before and you're all talk." She stared up at him, confident that if it came to it, she would be able to take him. A good few years of tackling drunks on weekend benders convinced her that he would be no problem whatsoever.

Suddenly she was pinned against the wall with her arm trapped painfully behind her back and his breath hot on her neck. She squirmed but it only made things worse.

"Does this alter your view on that front? I couldn't be further from being all talk and no action. Believe me, if you defy my warning, if you tell another soul about this meeting, living or dead, you will force my hand. I have ways of making people disappear and I won't think twice about making you next on my list, potential or none." He whispered disturbingly calmly into her ear. "Is. That. Clear." She nodded her head and he stepped back, letting her arm go. She held her shoulder as it throbbed painfully.

She wasn't sure if it was his smug smile or the fact that he'd scared her that drove her to grab the stake and swing it at his head, but swing it she did as he arrogantly adjusted his ever so slightly ruffled collar and cuffs. To her dismay, he reacted a tad too fast, catching it just inches from his temple and snatching it from her grasp. _Oh shit, now I'm in trouble_ she thought vaguely in the silent second that followed. He tossed the stake over his shoulder and grabbed for her throat.

"Big mistake." She heard him mumble in that infuriatingly calm voice. She ducked and whirled around behind him, surprising herself. It was amazing the agility that fear could afford you. A picture of tranquillity, he removed a pair of black gloves from his pocket and deftly put them on while she planned her next move. All she really wanted was to get out – injuring him would be a bonus. The one good thing about the situation was that her job made her fast on her toes, deceptively strong and good at thinking quick. Unfortunately it seemed the same and more could be said for him.

He started towards her again suddenly, grabbing her chin with one hand and a shoulder with the other, forcing her backwards against the opposite wall and winding her. He tipped her head as far back as it would go, making it even harder for her to catch her breath, her hands grabbing at his lapels.

"You're not doing yourself any favours by struggling. Mark my words, I will wi..." she cut him off with a swift knee to the groin, making him groan and fall against the wall on top of her. She twisted away but he caught her arm and back-handed her across the face before she could get further than a foot away from him. She sprawled against the coffee table and clasped a hand to her cheek, blinking as her vision swam for a moment, long enough for him to regain his composure. "Silly little girl."

"Silly little man." She growled, snatching a wooden photo frame from the table and whirling around with it. The corner of it smashed into the side of his head, knocking him sideways. It was enough of a distraction for her to turn and run for the door. He sighed in frustration as he glimpsed her making her way out into the corridor. Following her now would be too conspicuous, and their scuffle had probably already alerted the neighbours. He felt his head where the frame had made contact and rubbed the small, painful lump that had already begun to form. Adjusting his jacket, he made his way out of the flat as quietly as possible, turning off the lamp and shutting the door behind him. He suspected that she wouldn't be returning for the night, and in any case, he knew where to find her. One thing was for sure. She hadn't heard the last of him.

* * *

"Alright, alright keep your hair on. Jesus." Alex muttered, rentaghosting to the window to see who on earth was making such a racket at the front door at this time of night. "Hal, Tom!" she shouted upstairs, recognising Bethan as she stepped back from the door to look up at the first floor windows. She felt odd as she undid the latch, having not done so since before she had died. Doors opening by themselves tended to freak people out. Bethan rushed in and slumped against the hallway wall breathing heavily and soaking wet. "What the hell happened to you?" Alex asked before remembering that the other woman couldn't hear her.

"Thank you Alex." Bethan gasped between ragged breaths.

"You're welcome." The ghost mumbled, despite the futility of the gesture. She heard doors opening upstairs as Hal and Tom came pounding along the landing and down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Hal asked worriedly before he saw the drenched police woman. "Bethan? What are you doing here? What's happened?" He stopped dead and swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on her face. He gulped and backed away a few paces. "You're hurt." He breathed without taking his eyes from her. Alex saw the problem and rushed to his side placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He insisted, shaking his head and breaking his gaze. She stepped back but stayed close, just incase she needed to rentaghost him away. Bethan frowned and brought a hand up to her lip. Blood still dripped from the cut, watered down and refusing to clot because of the rain. She staggered upright and backed towards the door.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I forgot I was bleeding. I shouldn't have come here." She rambled, reaching for the latch to let herself out.

"Eh don't be daft, it's only a little bit, it'll stop soon enough. Hal's alright aren't you Hal?" Tom put a hand on her shoulder, leading her gently away from the door and towards the living room.

"Yes. Fine." Hal stuttered, giving the werewolf a pained look as he went past. While Tom sat Bethan down on the sofa, Alex disappeared to retrieve a large fluffy towel from upstairs so that the bedraggled woman could at least start to get dry.

"Thank you." Bethan said as the towel appeared infront of her. Alex sat in the armchair opposite, while Hal leant against the bar keeping a safe distance between him and temptation. Alex couldn't help but smile at him. His voluntary restraint was yet another reminder of the change in him.

"Has somebody hurt ya?" Tom asked concernedly, sitting beside her.

"A man called me a few weeks ago telling me to stay away from the files I was looking at. He found out about me helping you the other day, so he broke into my flat to warn me again. We got into a fight when I told him to leave." She explained. It wasn't exactly the whole truth, but she wasn't sure that telling them about Rook's full involvement was such a good idea. It was clear that he felt she knew too much about the supernaturals, but he seemed far more perturbed by the fact that she knew too much about him, and what he did. Telling them would only put them in danger too, and they didn't deserve that.

"A man? Who? What did he look like?"Tom asked.

"That smell." Hal frowned.

"Hal..." Alex warned.

"No not **that** smell. I can smell him, on your clothes, on you. I recognise that smell. The man who came to see you was in the basement when Alex's body was removed." He moved to sit on the other sofa, seeming to forget his earlier trepidation about the blood. "What did he say to you? Other humans know about us, why is he so concerned about you?"

"He said he had ways of making people disappear. I don't know, perhaps it's because I'm in the police?" she shrugged. Hal didn't look convinced, but he kept quiet.

"Getting my body back isn't worth putting you in danger. I mean, her, putting her in danger." Alex shook her head at her mistake. Hal nodded in agreement.

"I don't know why I came here, I shouldn't have." Bethan stood up to leave.

"Don't be daft! We don't mind do we?" Tom hastily stood up beside her, looking to the others for help.

"Where else would you have gone? I suspect none of your friends or family know about any of this. And no, we don't mind." Hal smiled sympathetically.

"Well, thank you. But I should go. It's late and..."

"You can't go home tonight, it's too dangerous." Hal shook his head.

"You can stay here!" Tom beamed.

"I can't, I don't want to impose."

"Rubbish! How much trouble can you cause anyway, you're only small." He chuckled.

"What about..." she nodded towards Hal, "I'm making you uncomfortable."

"**You're** making **me** uncomfortable? I don't know quite what to say to that. Five-hundred years and no one's ever told me they're worried about me killing them for my own peace of mind. I certainly never thought about it like that." He mused.

"Well, it's your home. I'm the one causing trouble." Bethan said sadly.

"Because of us. You wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for us. One night isn't going to be a problem, honestly. Of course you must stay with us." He smiled.

* * *

"Alright. This is the shot for the championship." Alex crouched down and concentrated hard. She lined her fingers up carefully, taking a moment to check the intended trajectory again, and flicked. The small paper ball soared through the air and landed with a delicate "ting" in the china mug a few metres away. "Yes! And the crowd goes wild. Go Alex, go Alex!" She celebrated quietly, pumping the air with her fist. "Shite. Boredom has turned me into the world's most tragic ghost."

She turned and frowned as she heard quiet footsteps padding down the stairs. Bethan crept into the living room, smothered in a t-shirt and jogging bottoms that belonged to Tom. Alex hadn't even been aware that he owned clothes that actually covered all of his legs and arms, but it was a good job he did. She was pretty sure lending his clothes to someone, even for a night, would have tipped Hal over the edge, almost as much as knowing there was a semi naked woman in the house. She wondered what Bethan was doing up. It was early, barely seven, and with the state the girl had been in the night before, she hadn't expected her to stir for some time.

"Morning. Are you hungry?" she asked, deciding to ignore the fact that Bethan couldn't hear her. She followed her into the kitchen, opening the doors to the cupboards that contained bread, cereals and crockery to show her where they were.

"Oh. Hi Alex, I wondered if you were here. Thanks, but I'm not hungry." Bethan smiled politely.

"You should eat something." Alex said, sounding a little more motherly than she was comfortable with. She flapped the doors to illustrate her point.

"Well alright, I suppose I should eat something really."

"That's the spirit." The ghost grinned. "Why are you up though?" She watched as Bethan put some toast in, and walked over to the radiator to see if her uniform had dried overnight.

"Well that's a relief. At least I won't have to walk around the station damp today. Bit creased but never mind." She mumbled, examining her black trousers. Alex stared for a moment in shock before striding over to the fridge and spelling out _**NO**_ in the black and white domino magnets. "It's alright, I'll be fine. He's not likely to turn up there, it'd be a bit bold considering he seems to like sneaking about." Bethan shrugged, buttering her toast calmly.

"Are you mad!? He turned up at your flat and beat you up last night."

"And it's not as if he actually really hurt me or anything. Actually, I kind of provoked him."

"He still hit you. And he told you he could make you disappear. That's pretty blood scary isn't it? He took my body and did God knows what with it. What if you're next?"

"Besides, if he does contact me again I could try asking him about your body. I'll just convince him that I'm not going to tell anyone about you and... him, and then I'll see if maybe he would return it to your family. It's worth a shot."

"No, it's not! Just stay here, it's much safer! Ok, so there's a vampire and a werewolf in the house, but Tom wouldn't hurt a fly, and Hal's a big softy really. Don't tell him I said that though..."

"And I can't exactly sit around here all day. You've already done enough. I'll be out of your hair soon."

"But I don't want you out of our hair, I like having you around. Except for the fact that you can't sodding well hear me! Bugger this!" Alex growled, rentaghosting upstairs to Hal's room. "Hal." He jumped awake, grimacing when he saw her.

"What."

"Bethan's going to work."

"I don't care." He mumbled sleepily, pulling the covers over his head.

"Hal! Oi!" she kicked the mattress, making him grunt. "Did you not hear me? Bethan is going to work!"

"Work? She can't be serious?" He sat up and rubbed a hand over his face, trying to wake himself up. "Have you tried stopping her?"

"It's a little difficult with her not being able to hear me and all." Alex sighed exasperatedly.

"Right. Of course. So I take it you want me to go and speak to her?"

"That'd be nice yes." She replied impatiently.

"Why can't Tom do it? He's better at talking to people and being... nice." he complained waving a hand at her dismissively.

"Have you ever tried waking Tom up before eight? It's like shouting at a rock." She folded her arms irritably. "Come on Hal, it's important. And if you don't hurry up, I'll rentaghost you down there without a t-shirt on, and you know how self-conscious you get if you're not dressed properly infront of women." He crossed his bare arms over his chest instinctively and looked up at her anxiously.

"Fine. Give me a moment." He muttered, throwing back the covers and taking a t-shirt from his wardrobe. By the time they reached the kitchen, Bethan had almost finished her toast. She looked up as he came through the door.

"Morning." Her smile vanished as she noticed the serious look on his face. "She went and got you didn't she." She mumbled, looking very much as if she was expecting a telling off.

"Yes she did. What are you thinking? What if he comes back today?"

"Well what else am I meant to do? I can't stay here forever, I'm going to have to leave eventually."

"She has a point Alex." He sighed, turning to the ghost. "We can't make her stay." He saw her raised eyebrow and almost laughed. "Alex! We can't, don't even think about it."

"Fine! But tell her she has to come back here after work. We need to sort out some kind of plan." Alex jumped up onto the worktop and folded her arms sulkily.

"Alex says you have to come back here after work. I'd do as she says if I were you, she's scary when she's determined." The ghost glared at him as he turned to smile at her.

"How's this. If I hear from him today I'll come back. But it'll be fine, he wouldn't dare. I was just scared last night, that was all. Thanks for letting me stay, it was very kind of you all." Bethan smiled gratefully and took her now empty plate to the sink.

"No problem. Now can I go back to bed?" he asked Alex.

"No. You failed." She pouted.

"Right. I'll be seeing you then." He walked back into the hallway, ignoring her.

**(Hope you enjoyed that! Three guesses as to who the cat is named after by the way folks!)**


	6. Cats and Dogs

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

Sorry you've had to wait a little while for this one, but it's been hard to find time to write over Christmas. Just a very little warning for swearing near the end, and look out for Vampire Flirting 101 from Hal too. Don't worry, it's not what you think :) Thanks for the reviews, enjoy! x

**Chapter 6: Cats and Dogs**

"Good afternoon Miss Arthur. And how are you today?"

"Marvellous. You?" Bethan grumbled into the phone, looking around to make sure no one was listening. She walked out of the crowded cafeteria, darting into an empty office a few doors down the corridor.

"A little perturbed if I'm honest. Last night didn't quite go to plan, as you might imagine." Rook drawled, voice dripping with his trademark confidence.

"You did have a plan then. It was hard to tell, what with the breaking and entering, the threats, and the fighting." She said dryly.

"Quite. But you did try to hit me with a stake, as I recall."

"After you pinned me up against a wall!" Bethan hissed, only just remembering to keep her voice down.

"Let's not get into specifics. I wondered if, having slept on it, you were willing to reconsider my proposition."

"To join your organisation? If I say no are you going to kill me? Serious question."

"No." He chuckled coldly. "But I'll be disappointed. It's not often someone manages to give me the slip. You show great promise."

"Still, I'll politely decline if it's all the same."

"Very well. Then there's just the issue of your silence to settle."

"Yes, about that. I will stay quiet, I swear. I can't see it doing any good to reveal the existence of... well you know what, to anyone else. Humans are better off not knowing."

"And what about your friends at the B&B?"

"I think they already know."

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit Miss Arthur. Have you told them about what happened last night?"

"Only the basic outline. I didn't tell them who you are, or what you do. Hal recognised your smell on me though, so he worked out that you were involved in the disappearance of Alex's body."

"Oh did he now? I hope you didn't let him get too close to you, vampires are extremely dangerous creatures you know."

"Hal's fine, and to be honest, he's the least of my problems at the moment."

"I'm sure you won't be saying that when he's ripped out your throat. Then again you might like that. You silly girls and your obsession with vampires. I hope that's not why you're doing this."

"To get close to Hal? Don't be stupid, I haven't got a death wish. I'm not as stupid as you obviously think. Besides, why's it all about the vampires with you?"

"Oh, so it's Thomas you like? You're "Team Jacob", as they say. Less deadly than the vampire but I'd still keep a silver bullet under your pillow just incase."

"No, I'm just sticking up for him, that's all. Anyway, can we get off the subject of my completely non-existent love life and back to reality thank you? Speaking of Alex's body, she would very much like you to give it back to her family." Bethan tried to sound sure of herself, even though she didn't feel it.

"Would she now? Keep silent and I'll see what I can do." He said, taking Bethan by surprise. She hadn't really believed he would agree.

"And you'll leave me alone from now on?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid I can't promise that. You know entirely too much, far more than I'm comfortable with. I wouldn't usually allow that. But who knows, perhaps I'll need you for something. Or maybe I'll grow tired of you. It's hard to tell." The malice was clear in his tone, and the line went dead before she could say anything. He wanted her to know that she was at his mercy, and she certainly felt it. Her heart raced as she fought down fear. It looked as though she would be returning to Honolulu Heights after all.

* * *

"Alright, house meeting in session. We should take a vote. All those in favour of the motion..." Alex began to raise her hand, but Hal cut her off.

"Hang on, shouldn't we discuss this?"

"Discuss what? Where else can she go?" Alex clasped her hands on the kitchen table, a sign of her agitation. Tom rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, all too familiar with the scene playing out infront of him.

"I don't know, to a friend? A relative? That's beside the point anyway. Look, she cannot stay here any longer."

"It's only been one night Hal, Jesus! Anyone'd think she's been touching your dominoes or something." The ghost mumbled testily. "Anyway, you're the one who keeps saying that you two got her into this mess. The least we can do is let her stay, just until this all dies down with the creepy weirdo guy."

"No, the least we could do was let her stay for one night, now you're suggesting a month, or more perhaps? That is simply out of the question."

"Could I just..." Tom tried to interject, but Hal and Alex could go for hours like this, and his attempt fell on deaf ears.

"You know you can really be a cold-hearted bastard sometimes." Alex narrowed her eyes at Hal.

"Oh, you think I'm being callous do you? Then you'll be surprised to know I actually quite like her. Which is precisely why I don't want her staying here with us."

"Oh. I see. You **like** her and you're worried you won't be able to control yourself around her and then you'll end up hurting her. Aw Hal, that's actually quite sweet." Alex smiled.

"What? No! Don't be stupid." He sighed exasperatedly. "I mean that if she stays with us, sooner or later something will happen and she'll get hurt or worse. Humans and supernaturals cannot live together, it just doesn't work. Take my word for it." He huffed, knowing she wouldn't.

"You're back in control, Tom transforms in the cellar and I'm no threat, so what are you worrying about? It's better for her to live here with the safe monsters for a bit, rather than get killed by the evil human out there. Better the devil you know and all that."

"Safe?! You think we're safe? Mark my words Alex, if she stays here, she'll be like one of us before the month is out. I'm telling you, she will!" he crossed his arms huffily.

"Right! Enough! She's been sitting on the doorstep for the last five minutes while you two have been arguing, so let's just vote shall we?" Alex and Hal stared at Tom incredulously for a moment, surprised at his outburst. They nodded begrudgingly. "All those in favour, raise your hand." Hal sat back sulkily as Tom and Alex both raised their hands.

"That's settled then. We have a new lodger." Alex beamed, barely able to contain her excitement.

"I don't know why you're so happy about it, you can't even speak to her." Hal muttered. Alex grinned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll go and get her, tell her the good news." Tom grinned, bounding up from the table and out into the hallway.

"This is a terrible idea Alex. We shouldn't be doing this." Hal grimaced, sounding genuinely worried.

"Oh pipe down will you. Everything'll be fine. Why don't you just take this as another sign that we trust you?" she smiled at him reassuringly, happy now that the argument had been won. Tom came through the kitchen door, followed by a sheepish-looking Bethan.

"Thanks for letting me stay. It's just until I figure out what to do long-term, unless something changes with Rook." she said quietly.

"We don't mind, it'll be nice to have someone else around the place. It's too big for us three anyway." Tom grinned. "Do you want to pick anything up from your place? We can take the car over before tea if you want?"

"That would be nice, thanks." Bethan replied gratefully. Hal narrowed his eyes slightly at the fact that Tom had volunteered his services without asking first, but rose to get his car keys nevertheless, smiling slightly at Bethan on his way past. It was obvious that she felt uncomfortable about the arrangement, and after all, it wasn't her he was annoyed at. When it came down to it, Rook was the one causing all the upheaval.

When they arrived at the flat, Bethan unlocked the door and led them in apprehensively, as though part of her still expected him to be there. She crossed the room and picked a photo frame up from the floor. That and a stake resting on the other side of the room were the only signs that a struggle had taken place the night before.

"I hit him with this." She said, staring at the frame in her hand. She shook her head and placed it carefully on a small table. They looked up nervously as they heard a quiet thud from the kitchen. The door opened, apparently by itself, and Tom moved infront of Bethan protectively. Hal rolled his eyes at the werewolf as the culprit, a cat, jumped onto the sofa, meowing agitatedly.

"Toby! I'm sorry sweety, it's alright, I'm here now." Bethan crouched down and made a fuss of the cat, who responded by purring loudly. "I won't be a moment, I just need to feed him and go and talk to one of my neighbours about looking after him while I'm away. Make yourselves comfortable." She disappeared into the kitchen for a minute before heading back out into the hallway.

"Cheer up a bit mate, it might be nice having her at the house for a bit. It's been quiet, you know, with Annie and Eve gone." The werewolf finished sadly. Hal rested a sympathetic hand on his shoulder for a moment, before removing it uncomfortably.

"Yes, it has. They're in a better place now though, the same as Leo and Pearl." He frowned, remembering his former best friends. He wondered what Leo would think of everything that had happened to him in the past few months, and tried to shake the feeling that his old friend would be disappointed.

"Yea. I'm glad Annie found her door. She deserved to be happy, and little Eve's with her mum and dad now."

As soon as Bethan came back, she set about packing things to take with her, busily moving from room to room with armfuls of clothes, toiletries and other miscellaneous items, piling them onto the sofa in organised stacks. The cat wandered back into the living room and sat infront of Tom, washing itself languidly. The werewolf jumped slightly as it got up, stretched, and rubbed itself on his leg, looking for attention. He stepped backwards nervously.

"Tom, are you scared of cats?" Hal asked, a small smile appearing at the corner of his lips.

"No! Of course not. They're just... unpredictable that's all." The werewolf swallowed, staring at the cat, seeming unable to take his eyes away from it. He tensed, as if the cat was about to leap at his throat. In reality, it wandered unconcernedly over to Hal and rubbed itself up against his leg, seeming to sense that Tom was a lost cause.

"Hey Tom, there's a suitcase on top of the wardrobe in the spare room, would you mind getting it down for me? It's just through there, past the bathroom." Bethan smiled, excusing the anxious werewolf.

"Right, I'll just go and get it." he swallowed, edging out of the room still watching the cat cautiously.

"Who knew. A werewolf who's scared of cats. Whatever next?" Bethan chuckled to herself as she busied herself with picking out books to take with her.

"What's his name?" Hal asked, bending to pick the cat up.

"Toby. What, you like them?"

"I don't mind them. Budgerigars and small animals in general are my idea of hell on earth, but I've always held cats in high regard." He tickled Toby under the chin and the cat stretched in his arms and purred happily.

"What's wrong with budgies?" she asked distractedly, searching for something. She climbed up on to the sofa and pulled a copy of Wuthering Heights from the top of the bookcase triumphantly.

"What's right with them?" Hal mumbled. "I've always felt a kind of affinity with cats. Easy going and laid back if you leave them be, but hostile if you annoy them. Just like me really."

"They like a cuddle too. You don't strike me as much of a cuddler." She grinned, her attention still on the bookcase.

"I didn't say I was like them in every way. Besides, cats are only affectionate when they want something. I'm not quite that shallow. Usually"

"Do you really think of yourself like that, or are you just using my cat to come on to me? I'm not sure which would be worse." Bethan raised an eyebrow amusedly.

"Certainly not the latter. No offence meant."

"None taken. You're not my type. Not that you're not insanely good looking, but I prefer my men a little less... dead? Immortal? Bitey? Take your pick."

"I am not bitey. Not anymore." Hal grumbled under his breath as Tom came back into the room carrying the suitcase he had retrieved from the loft. Bethan set about filling it with her belongings, while the young werewolf kept a close eye on the contented cat now dozing in his friend's arms. When she had finished with the case, Bethan took Toby from Hal. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his fur for a minute, saying goodbye.

"Come on you, time we got you to Mrs Jacobs next door. It's just for a while, until I can come back home." She swallowed down the lump in her throat, and Tom hesitantly rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, keeping as much distance between himself and the cat as was possible. Hal picked up the case and followed them out into the hallway.

When they got back to the house, Hal was surprised to see that Alex had bothered to tidy up the living room a bit in anticipation of their new house guest's arrival. Not that it had been that messy in the first place. He had made sure the house had been spick and span ever since he had been freed from the chair. Mess depressed him, and it did nothing to calm him either. He made a mental note to emphasise to Bethan that it was in her best interest to tidy up after herself, lest he did start finding it tough with her living there.

Bethan excused herself and went straight upstairs to unpack, while Alex, Hal and Tom gravitated to their natural evening routine of sitting on the sofa arguing about what to watch on the TV. For all their bravado about how safe he was now, Alex and Tom had still made sure to put Bethan in the room furthest away from his. Part of him was slightly hurt that they didn't seem to trust him as much as they let on, but he knew it was for the best. He still wasn't entirely sure he could trust himself just yet, let alone have them trust him. Still, he was comforted by the fact that he hadn't had any strong urges to kill Bethan yet, despite the small matter of the blood on her lip the night before. That was a good sign. He settled back into the sofa, content with the thought that he might just make it through the next month with a human in the house.

"Alex? How are you gonna talk to Bethan? If you're here with her on your own I mean." Tom frowned at the ghost inquisitively.

"Ah, I already thought of that!" she rentaghosted out of the room, returning a minute later with a white board and a pen. "I'll use this. I found it in the attic." She smiled happily, sitting back down between them.

"I'm still not sure about this." Hal muttered, not taking his eyes away from University Challenge.

"Oh pipe down. She's staying and that's final. Besides, I thought you liked her." Alex reached over him and grabbed the remote from the arm of the sofa, making him sit back and put his hands up to avoid any uncomfortable accidental contact between them. He rolled his eyes as she began flicking through the channels.

"I was watching that. Anyway, me liking her isn't relevant. Even if I didn't, I still wouldn't relish the thought of killing her. Mind you, technically the problem is that I might relish the thought." He frowned thoughtfully, earning himself a disbelieving stare from the ghost.

"You're not helping yourself Hal."

"I was being philosophical. Obviously **I** don't want to hurt her, but the vampire in me does."

"Well tell it to fuck off. And stop being philosophical. You think too much." She retorted distractedly, smiling happily as she found a trashy reality TV show to watch. Hal groaned and tried to grab the remote from her hand.

"Yes, you're right, it's that easy. I'll just tell myself not to kill anyone. Why didn't I think of that before?" he said sarcastically. Alex snatched the remote out of his reach easily and nimbly tucked it down her top.

"You want it, come and get it." She grinned smugly, knowing full well that he wouldn't. He flopped backwards and folded his arms sulkily.

"Fine. I'm going up to my room. I shan't be back down so goodnight."

"Night." Alex mumbled, already engrossed in the TV.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Tom asked before he reached the doorway, peering over the back of the sofa.

"No, I'll be fine Tom. But thanks for the vote of confidence." He called shortly over his shoulder, not stopping to look at the werewolf.

"Suit yourself." He heard Tom retort moodily. He felt a little guilty at that, but kept going up the stairs. They probably thought they were helping, but they were only making it worse by bringing it up all the time. Reminding him of what he was missing out on.

The little voice in the back of his mind, the vampire gnawing away at his defences every day, knew exactly what it wanted to do to her. It wanted to keep going, past his door, and straight to the other end of the corridor to hers. It wanted to knock politely, smile charmingly, say something comforting to welcome her to the household, brush against something and knock it over, feigning clumsiness to take away any anxiety she might have about him being dangerous. It wanted to start up a conversation about something that interested her, pay her veiled compliments to relax her, nothing too obvious, just enough to conceal the fact that she was being seduced. It wanted to move steadily closer to her, slowly increase the amount of eye contact, and eventually to build up to physical contact, the odd brush of his finger tips over her arm, perhaps a reassuring squeeze of her knee, perfecting the delicate balance between being over friendly and leaving her wanting more. That was what the hunter in him liked more than anything. Killing was easy. What Hal had enjoyed more than anything was making them come to him. He liked to take his time, flirt but not make any definitive move. And when she was ready, when she wanted him, craved him even, he would indulge her for a while, perhaps all night if she was talented enough. Might as well reap the full benefits his quarry could offer him, he had needs other than drinking blood after all. And by the time he had worked his magic she would be oh so enthusiastic, eager to please him, just the way he wanted her. Putty in his expert hands. Then when he got bored, when he grew tired of keeping the monster contained, he would sink his fangs into her and drink his fill. A successful hunt always made the blood taste sweeter in the end, or at least it seemed to.

He stepped into his room and closed the door. That was what the vampire wanted, but the man just wanted peace. And the man was winning, for now at least. He sat on the floor and retrieved his case of dominos from under the bed, triumphant over the monster in his head again. Not that that made him feel any better about the particular situation Bethan was in. He would do his best to keep her safe from Rook, as he knew Alex and Tom would too, but it still didn't stop the niggling doubt that she wouldn't be returning back home in one piece once the situation was dealt with. One little scratch from Tom at the wrong time, and she would be a werewolf. One little slip from him and she would be dead, or recruited, if the thought occurred to him in the moment of frenzy that would surely come after he had killed her. And then there was the danger Rook himself posed. Werewolf, vampire, ghost, dead, mentally traumatised. He couldn't help but feel that Bethan's future looked rather bleak from where he sat.


	7. Morbid Fascination

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

**Chapter 7: Morbid Fascination**

Hal collapsed on the handlebars of his exercise bike breathing heavily, skin glistening with sweat. Bethan had been staying with them for three weeks, three days, twenty-two hours and approximately thirty-three minutes. And every one of those minutes had been harder than Hal had imagined. The man was still winning over the vampire's instinct, but he felt like he'd taken a step backwards. He had been avoiding her as much as possible since day four of her stay, but every time they were in the same room together he couldn't help but watch her. He didn't mean to, and as soon as he realised he was doing it, his eyes would dart away in shame. He would make his excuses and flee to his room to distract himself with his dominoes, or sit ups, or cycling. Which was why he currently found himself hunched over the bike feeling nauseous and sore having overexerted himself. He sat up shakily and wiped his sweat soaked forehead, deciding that he needed a shower before attempting to sleep. He dismounted a little shakily, grabbed his towel and headed along the corridor to the bathroom.

Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't notice that the glass pane in the door was coated in a layer of steam, or hear her shuffling about inside before it was too late. Reaching for the handle, he stopped abruptly as it turned before he touched it. Bethan nearly walked straight into him, clasping a hand to her chest and letting out a small gasp of shock as she stopped just inches from him.

"Oh, sorry." She breathed, chuckling awkwardly. He froze. Her tousled hair was damp, still wet from the shower she had just finished, her skin soft and flushed from the heat of the water, heart pumping loud and fast from the shock of seeing him. The sound of her blood filled his ears as if it was his own, and he tried to block it out. Her towel was secured tightly over the top of her breasts, not revealing even the slightest hint of cleavage, but her clothes bundled in the crook of her arm told him she was naked beneath it. Only moments had passed, not even enough time to make the silence between them uncomfortable, but his internal struggle was already a raging battle. And it had always been much harder for him with women.

"That's alright, it was my fault." He smiled at her charmingly. Too charmingly.

"You look like you've been busy. Press-ups again?" she asked, smiling at him. She was relaxed, appearing not to mind how close he was stood. He leaned forward a little more, fixing her with his eyes. Those eyes had captivated enough women in the past for him to know the effect they had on the opposite sex. She frowned ever so slightly, but stared back nonetheless.

"The bike this time. Thought I'd get a few miles in before bed." His voice was low, his gaze smouldering. The last time he had used this voice was on his date with Alex, the night she had died. He'd been blood drunk and hungry, and a little voice in the back of his head had been screaming at him to stop. He was hungry now too, and the same little nagging voice was back, telling him he was going too far. He ignored it, and glanced at her neck where her pulse throbbed lightly through the pale skin.

"Ah. Well, that's where I should probably be heading. To bed I mean, not to your bike. That would be daft." She chuckled again, uncomfortably this time, and looked down at the floor for just a second before her gaze returned involuntarily to his eyes and held. His lips twitched in a slight smile. He had her attention. He moved closer still, and she stepped back, trapped against the door frame. This time she did look worried, but her eyes were still locked on his, seeming unable to look away. It was more prey hypnotized by predator than desire and longing, but it was enough for him. And there was still time to change that. He hadn't kissed her yet.

"Bed does sound an enticing prospect." He murmured , edging his mouth closer to hers. Her eyes fluttered down to his lips for a moment before closing. He had always been good at this. No, better than good. He was a master in seduction. Their lips brushed for the briefest of seconds before she came to her senses and shoved him away so hard he hit the back of his head on the opposite edge of the door frame. It was precisely the shock he had needed. He stared at her in horror, eyes wide and gulping in air to clear his head.

"Hal!" Alex snapped from the top of the stairs, glaring at him. He looked at her, startled, then back to Bethan. Tom thudded up the stairs and onto the landing, stopping behind Alex.

"I'm sorry... you caught me off-guard." He stuttered at Bethan, still in shock at how close he had come to disaster. How close he had allowed himself to come.

"It's alright. You didn't mean it." She said quietly, surprising him. "And I knew what you were doing. I should have stopped you sooner."

"Why didn't you?" he asked in disbelief.

"I don't know. Morbid fascination?" she shrugged.

"How could you be so stupid?" Hal glared at her angrily. He knew that wasn't fair, that he was angry at himself and not her, but he couldn't stop his frustration from boiling over. Did she think this was all just a game?

"That's a little bit hypocritical don't you think?" she spat back at him. "Besides, your eyes weren't black so I figured it wasn't that bad." So that's why she had been holding his gaze, to check his eye colour. A little part of him was disappointed. He shooed it away.

"It takes less than a second for my eyes and teeth to change, for future reference. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking I'm safe, not ever. But I am sorry." He finished, looking down at the floor again ashamedly.

"Don't worry about it." She muttered sullenly, walking away to go to her room. He heard the faint scratch of metal on metal as she bolted the door behind her, and thought vaguely that it wouldn't stop him getting in if his urges returned in the night. He shook his head and took a deep breath.

"You alright mate?" Tom asked concernedly, he and Alex watching him as if they thought he was feral. It was the same look they had given him before they let him out of the chair, when they had been trying to work out whether he was ready or not.

"Never better." He grumbled, going into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. Throwing off his clothes angrily, he stepped into the shower and set the water as cold as it would go, standing under the torrent until he shivered and his teeth chattered. He rested his head against the tiles and breathed deeply, trying not to think about her. When he was calm again, he dried himself and put his clothes back on, poking his head out of the bathroom door cautiously to make sure she wasn't on the landing. Back in the safety of his room he set about constructing his usual spiral of dominoes, but it took three complete tries of building them up and taking them down before he felt composed enough to even think about sleep.

* * *

"What's up with you? Eat up or you'll be late." Alex encouraged, trying to snap Tom out of the grim mood he had been in all morning.

"You know what's wrong."

"Yea. And trust me, when he finally shows his face, we'll be having words."

"Do you think he actually would have done it?" Tom asked worriedly.

"Yes."

Tom looked up at the ghost in surprise.

"Well you asked." She shrugged.

"You should go back upstairs and keep a lookout, just incase they bump into each other again."

"Tom, I spent most of the night sitting in that corridor bored of my mind, I am not doing it again. Besides, I didn't hear a peep from Hal's room. He's probably hiding from me because he knows he's going to get a tongue-lashing the next time I see him."

"Should my ears be burning?" Hal asked sourly as he came in from the hallway.

"Yes! Yes they bloody well should! What the hell were you thinking last night?" Alex fumed, crossing her arms impatiently. Hal winced at the sudden noise. "Oh, yea. How's your head this morning!?" she shouted, following him to the fridge to maximise his discomfort.

"Sore, but no less than I deserve, thank you for your concern." He glared at her.

"Too bloody right you deserved it! You're lucky I didn't get my hands on you afterwards!"

"Look, I know you're angry but..."

"We're not angry Hal. Well I'm not." Tom glanced towards Alex, who sighed and came to sit at the table with him. "We're disappointed." Hal turned to face him sadly, and even Alex felt a little sorry for him.

"I know, and you should be."

"Then why did you let it happen?" Tom asked softly.

"I didn't mean to! I couldn't stop myself."

"Well you're going to have to learn to aren't you, because that's not good enough! We didn't sit through weeks of your foul mouthed bullshit and nurse you back to bloody health just so you could throw it all away like this!" Alex yelled.

"Sorry." Hal murmured quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Do you think you'll be alright at work today?" Tom asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Last night I was just..."

"Horny?" Alex muttered. Hal scowled at her, but didn't finish his sentence. "Men." She tutted exasperatedly.

"I've managed fifty-seven years of celibacy Alex, trust me, _that _is not what I wanted." He grumbled at her.

"And we're not all like that anyway." Tom added defensively.

"_Fifty-seven_!" she exclaimed, raising a sceptical eyebrow at Hal and ignoring Tom. The vampire nodded dismissively and sat down with the bowl of cereal he had prepared for himself. "Wow. No wonder you're so moody all the time."

"While this conversation might be amusing to your infantile mind, I'd rather not discuss it over the breakfast table." He retorted, looking up anxiously as Bethan walked into the kitchen. He returned his attention to his bowl, avoiding any chance of meeting her eye.

"Morning." Bethan greeted them, surprisingly unconcerned at Hal's presence in the kitchen.

"Morning." He and Tom replied in unison. Bethan busied herself with making a cup of tea, seeming content to pretend that the events of the night before hadn't happened. She hung her stab vest and hat on the back of one of the chairs before sitting at the table with them.

"Hal, have you got a thing for uniforms?" Alex grinned at him. He ignored her completely.

"Alex. That's not helping." Tom warned. Bethan looked up at him, realising that Alex must have said something.

"I don't want to know, do I?" she asked warily.

"I doubt it." Tom answered, giving the ghost a pointed look.

"I was only kidding." Alex smiled sweetly at the werewolf. "In all seriousness though Hal, how have you managed it? Fifty-seven years... You must have bloody strong wrists by now." She smirked. Tom flushed red but Hal continued to ignore her, not rising to the bait.

"Alex, please stop now. You're really putting me off my breakfast, and this can't be doing him any good." Tom pleaded with her.

"Relax. He knows exactly what I'm doing, and it's working." Tom frowned confusedly at the ghost.

"What on earth is she doing?" Bethan asked concernedly.

"She's testing me." Hal explained. Tom just shook his head and looked more puzzled. "She's seeing how I react to assess whether I'm still safe or not. It's actually quite clever, considering _you_ came up with it Alex."

"Thanks ever so much Sugar." She smiled at him sarcastically.

"That's a bit dangerous isn't it?" Tom nodded in Bethan's direction, trying and failing to be covert. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, but as she said, it's working. I am a picture of calm and control."

"I bet if she flashed you it'd all go to pot." Alex smirked at him.

"Now you're just being vulgar." He said, taking another spoonful of cereal.

"You do realise I can hear you both, don't you?"

"Sorry Bethan, it's Alex's fault." Tom smiled at the ghost. Alex held out her hand, catching her whiteboard and pen as they flew to her on command. After a minute of busy scribbling, she held it out for Bethan to read.

"Yea, I'm not doing that to him." Bethan smirked before handing it back in Alex's direction. Alex laughed and wiped the board down, concealing what she had written from the boys.

"Doing what?" Hal asked warily.

"Nothing." Alex and Bethan answered at the same time.

"I'm going to brush my teeth. We've got to go in ten minutes, will you be ready?" Tom asked Hal as he took his empty plate and mug to the sink.

"When am I ever late for anything? It's like you don't know me at all." Tom beamed at Hal's fractious answer, convinced for now that his friend was back to normal.

"Well, before you go I want to talk to you. In private." Bethan stated, looking at Hal calmly. Tom stopped in his tracks in the doorway.

"That's not a good idea, is it Hal?" Tom questioned, moving back into the kitchen a little way. Hal stared at her contemplatively for a moment before answering.

"Ok."

"Hal..." Alex began.

"It'll be fine. Go on." He told them both. Tom shuffled uncomfortably.

"Tom, please. Nothing's going to happen." Bethan smiled encouragingly at him. He frowned but retreated. "You too Alex." The ghost got up from the table huffily.

"I'll be just outside. Behave yourself." She pointed a warning finger at Hal before departing through the swing doors into the lounge.

"You're brave." Hal stated, taking another mouthful of cereal.

"Don't lie, you think I'm stupid." Bethan smiled.

"Stupid is a tad harsh. I was thinking more along the lines of foolish. So I take it last night hasn't taught you anything."

"Because I'm not scared of being alone with you? Tom's upstairs and Alex is probably listening at the doors. I'm hardly in mortal peril. Besides, if I was that worried I'd have moved out and taken my chances with Rook by now."

"You'd probably be safer."

"Oh give it a rest. Last night is done, it's in the past, finished. And you didn't actually do anything." She frowned.

"I almost did."

"But would you have really gone through with it? I think you've got more self control than you give yourself credit for."

"Why are you being so kind?"

"Because I can tell how hard you have to try. Being a vampire can't be easy, and it's pretty obvious that you don't actually want to hurt me."

"That's... nice of you. But now you really are being stupid. Let me put it to you in simple terms. There's human me who likes you, and then there's vampire me who wants to kill you every second I'm near you. I'm holding on by my finger-tips at the best of times, so when you came out of the bathroom..." he swallowed, taking a moment to compose himself. "It wouldn't take much for me to snap again."

"You didn't snap. If you had I'd be dead."

"I tried to seduce you, it's the same thing."

"How patient and calculated of you. That doesn't strike me as the actions of a desperate man." She countered.

"Arousal makes the blood taste better." He stated darkly.

"Trust me, I was anything but aroused." She retorted. "Not that that matters, look, this is all trivial because nothing happened. It's the first time anything's gone wrong in three weeks, and I know how hard that's been so thank you for trying."

"_That's_ what you wanted to say to me? You wanted to thank me?"

"Yes. Last night brought it home how much I'm disrupting your recovery. I wish I had somewhere else to go, but I don't. And I still don't know what to do about Rook. Anyway, just don't be too hard on yourself. Relax a bit around me. It might do you some good."

"You know you're just making me feel guiltier."

"Guilty's better than murderous." She smiled. He snorted and shook his head. "By the way, Alex still fancies you." The ghost suddenly rentaghosted back into the room with a shocked expression on her face. He turned to look at her, his movement betraying her entrance to Bethan. "I knew you were eavesdropping." she grinned smugly, picking up her vest and hat from the back of her chair and making her way into the hallway. "See you later." She called before shutting the front door behind her.

"I... I don't." Alex stuttered when Hal turned back to her. "I mean, I did... but that was before... you know. I'd rather we just didn't discuss it to be honest with you..."

"I couldn't agree more. She only said it to see if you were listening anyway." Hal got up to wash his bowl in the sink, turning his back on her to hide his discomfort.

"Yea, of course she did. I should never have started using that white board to talk to her." She laughed awkwardly.

"Perhaps you shouldn't have mentioned that we went out on a date. She was bound to use it as ammunition at some point." They stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment, until Tom's thumping footsteps on the stairs broke the stillness. "Well, that's my cue to leave. Bye." Hal rushed.

"Yea, great, have a good day." Alex smiled uneasily as he made his way out of the room, sighing relievedly when the front door closed behind them both. "Most. Awkward. Breakfast. Ever..." she grimaced.

* * *

The cafe had been quiet all day, much to Hal's relief. He felt safe, but as he had discovered the night before, that could change in an instant. Every now and then a customer would come in, the odd builder, a few pensioners, a young couple, and every time Hal would retreat to the kitchen. He didn't say anything, but he knew Tom had worked out what he was doing, and he was sure the werewolf was more than happy to serve people on his own today. Hal felt a pang of guilt at that. Tom had looked so disappointed in him at breakfast.

He sighed and continued to clean under the sink. A thin layer of grime had formed on the pipes right at the back and it could not be tolerated. As he began scrubbing, the phone rang shrilly on the opposite wall. He jumped, groaning as he banged his already sore head on the basin. Tom hurried into the kitchen and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Cafe on the Corner, Tom speaking... oh, hi Bethan..."

Hal stood and rubbed his head, straining to hear what she was saying on the other end of the line. He frowned concernedly. Something must be wrong.

"Right, we'll go now. Thanks." Tom said grimly, replacing the receiver.

"What's happened? Is it Rook? Is she alright?"

"No, it's not that. It's Alex. We've got to go home." Tom hung up his apron and started shutting down the kitchen appliances. Hal went to turn the sign on the door to closed, rationalising that they couldn't get into too much trouble for closing early. It was already early evening after all.

"Alex?" he asked confusedly.

"Yea. Bethan only just found out, but it happened a few days ago, over the weekend." Tom replied distractedly, turning off the lights in the kitchen.

"Found out what? Tom!" Hal stared at him worriedly.

"They've found her body."


	8. Audible Agony

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

Sorry for the wait for this chapter. It's been a bit of a tricky one to write, plus with all the news from Series 5, I'm been rather distracted! Thank you to all the readers and reviewers so far, it's been really lovely hearing what you think. Enjoy x

Warning: Bad language and some potentially upsetting scenes.

**Chapter 8: Audible Agony**

"I can't believe it. I mean, this is good right? I wanted this to happen for ages, and now it finally has, and that's a good thing. Isn't it?" Alex shook her head as she paced up and down the living room. Hal and Tom watched her, their heads following her movements in unison. Hal thought they must look as though they were watching a tennis match at Wimbledon.

"Of course it's good. It means you can pass on." He reasoned with her.

"But passing on is so... so... so final! What if I'm not ready? What if it's not my time?"

"If it's not your time your door won't come. Alex, you're over thinking this. Please sit down, you're making my neck ache." Hal asked her softly, making room for her on the sofa. She ignored him and carried on pacing.

"And what if I don't pass on? What if I really am stuck here? Forever! Stuck in an eternity with you Hal. No offence, but it can't get much worse than that can it?"

"That's a little harsh isn't it? And anyway, you're not exactly my idea of an intellectual picnic to be around either." Hal muttered irritably.

"Well then we're agreed on something!" Alex shouted at him as she stormed past.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Yes Hal! Because I'm scared, alright? I'm scared of what's going to happen to me. Or, what's not going to happen. I don't know!" she stopped infront of them and put her head in her hands. Tom stood to pull her into a gentle hug, rubbing her arms comfortingly. "Oh, where is she? What if she's been abducted, or killed, or kidnapped or something? You should have gone to pick her up Hal."

"Me? Alone with her? In a car? I'm not sure that would have helped the situation."

"Well with Tom then. And don't get all touchy with me, it's not my fault if you can't keep it in your trousers." She mumbled against Tom's chest.

"For the last time, that wasn't what I wanted! Look, Alex, just calm down, please! Bethan will be home soon and she'll be able to tell you whatever you need to know." Hal tried to appease the flustered ghost.

"Calm! CALM! That's easy for you to fucking say!" The lights flickered temperamentally in response to her anger. "I can't breathe. I actually can't breathe!" she said pulling away from Tom and starting to pace again.

"You don't need to breathe Alex, do as Hal said and sit down. You're not doing yourself any good. You've got yourself in a right state." Tom caught her gently as she walked past him again and backed her towards the sofa. She sat down next to Hal, crossing her arms huffily. Only seconds later the front door opened and Alex was back on her feet in a flash with a panicked look. Bethan walked into the lounge with a grim expression.

"How's she taking it?" she asked.

"Not well." Tom answered sadly.

"No, I can imagine." Bethan replied. "If one of you could do the honours and translate, I'll answer any questions she has."

The boys looked towards Alex, who took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Where was... it... found? And how?" she asked uncomfortably.

"She wants to know how and where _she_ was found." Hal repeated, emphasising the word "she" as a mark of respect. Alex nodded towards him in appreciation.

"She was found by a dog walker, in woods just outside Cardiff. Do you really want to hear the details Alex?" Bethan asked cautiously.

"Yes." Alex answered firmly.

"Are you sure? It won't be easy." Hal asked concernedly, while Tom watched on sadly. Alex thought for a moment, but nodded. "Yes she does." Hal repeated for her.

"Ok. You were in a shallow grave in some undergrowth close to a well trodden footpath. They've already got a cause of death. The coroner has said your throat was cut, and you had some other small cuts and bruises, as though there'd been a struggle. And yet there was no trace of anyone else's DNA on your body, not even under your fingernails. There's no explanation as to why, but I expect Rook is confident enough that no one will ask questions that he doesn't feel like he really needs to go into too many details."

"So it is being treated as suspicious?" Hal asked, frowning.

"A murder investigation has been opened, but unsurprisingly there's absolutely no documented evidence of the perpetrator. Rook's been very thorough. I'm sorry, that's all the detail I know. I haven't looked up the report itself because of the risk of Rook noticing me again. The sooner he feels comfortable that I'm not a threat, the sooner I can move out of here and we can all get back to normal."

"So, what happens now?" Alex asked shakily, trying to hold herself together. Tom stepped over to her and put an arm around her.

"What happens now?" Hal repeated.

"Well, next you need to be formerly identified."

"After this long? Surely they should use DNA samples and dental records, due to the decomposition?" Hal asked, shooting an apologetic look at Alex. She shook her head to shake away his concern and frowned interestedly, waiting for the answer.

"Well, that's the strangest thing. They really must have been waiting for the right time, because your body has hardly decomposed at all Alex. In fact, they've put your time of death at between 10pm and 2am this Thursday just gone. Your body was discovered on Saturday morning."

"So, my family are coming here? To... identify me? When?" Alex gulped, swallowing the lump in her throat

"When will her family be here?" Hal asked softly.

"Tomorrow afternoon." Bethan replied. Alex stepped away from Tom and sat back on the sofa next to Hal. He hesitantly rested a hand on her knee and gave it a small squeeze. She smiled slightly at the awkward gesture.

"I want to be there." She said after a moment, her voice thick with determination.

"Alex, think carefully about this. It's not gonna to be easy, seeing yourself like that." Tom said concernedly.

"I spent ten hours stuck in a basement watching myself get eaten by maggots, believe me, this will be a doddle. And anyway, I'm not going to see my body, I'm going to see my family. I miss them Tom, and I haven't seen them for months. I need to do this." She told him remarkably calmly.

Hal watched the ghost thoughtfully for a minute before turning back to Bethan. "Alex wants to be there."

"Well... if you're sure Alex. But we won't be able to come in with you. It'll be family members only. You'll be on your own."

"I need to see them."

Hal nodded solemnly at the ghost, a fresh pang of guilt creeping into the pit of his stomach. Despite all her taunting about him drinking her blood, tangentially or not, he had been astonished at just how easily she had forgiven him for letting her die in the first place. In fact, she had been adamant that he was not to blame. Her exoneration had done little to sooth his overburdened conscience. He had agreed to go to the museum with her. He had played along, albeit begrudgingly, when Tom had insisted he leave a message on her phone. He had turned up to their date blood drunk and dangerous. And he had recruited Cutler all those years ago and turned him into the monster that had killed her in an effort to emulate his maker. Hal knew it was his actions that had led to her death and he couldn't forgive himself, even if she thought she could.

Truthfully, he was doubtful that seeing her family again would help her, but it was what she wanted and the least he could do was stand by her. After all, she hadn't just forgiven him. She and Tom had got him through his time strapped to the chair in the living room, and for that, he owed them everything.

* * *

The next day, they made their way to the mortuary in pensive silence. Alex had insisted that she would be fine on her own, but they had all called into work sick so that they could be there with her nevertheless, even Bethan. Hal parked the car as close to the entrance as he could and turned off the engine, but it was a while before the silence was broken, none of them really knowing what to say. Alex stared nervously out of the window from her seat next to Bethan in the back of the car. She flinched as a dark blue car came into sight at the end of the driveway. It wound its way through the car park slowly, before stopping in a parking bay only a few metres from theirs. Tom turned around in the passenger seat to look at her.

"Alex." She turned to look at him, her eyes full of panic and unshed tears. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." She blinked, and wiped her eyes quickly with the back of one of her sleeves. She turned away again and watched intently as a large man got out of the other car, followed by a woman in a police uniform and a man in a dark suit.

"Is that your dad Alex?" Tom asked softly. She nodded but didn't take her eyes from the man. She sniffed and wiped her eyes again. "Who's that with him?"

"The woman is a family liaison officer, the man is probably the detective assigned to the case." Bethan answered solemnly. They watched as the trio slowly made their way towards the drab, concrete cladded building.

"I should follow them." Alex stated bluntly.

"Only if you want to." Hal turned to look at her.

"I do. Right." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself before rentaghosting out of the car, following her father into the building.

"She'll be alright." Tom said, more to himself than to the others.

"Of course she will. And she knows where we are if it's too much for her." Hal stated matter-of-factly, trying hard to cover-up the concern in his voice.

Almost an hour passed in wordless silence. Tom had taken to drawing his own interpretation of the Honolulu Heights household using stick men traced in the condensation forming on the windows, much to Hal's consternation. He had been sat with his eyes closed, twirling his double-one domino the entire time, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Bethan had come to know Hal well enough to realise that while he might look as though he was distracted at times like these, he was really anything but. She wondered what he was thinking about, then decided that she probably didn't want to know. With her in such close quarters, it was probably something to do with killing her.

Bethan leant her forehead lightly against the window next to her and yawned sleepily. It seemed odd to care so much about someone she had never seen or heard, but care she did, and knowing what Alex would be facing alone in that building was heartbreaking. She was glad the ghost had Tom and Hal for company. She couldn't imagine what being invisible to the world must be like. She sighed and caught a movement from the corner of her eye as Hal shifted slightly. Out of habit she looked to the rear view mirror, but of course, she couldn't see his reflection in it. She didn't need to – she already knew he was looking at her through it.

Despite knowing in the back of her mind that she should be worried, all she could think was that it was a shame she couldn't see him. He did have lovely eyes. Actually, he had lovely everything. It had been easy to forgive him for the shower incident, considering it really had been as much her fault as it was his. Morbid curiosity had been the first excuse to pop into her head, and it had played a part, but the truth was she really had found it difficult to resist him. She had known that the only place his lips would have ended up was firmly clamped to her neck, but it hadn't stopped her from wanting him to kiss her. Until she had come to her senses and realised she was nothing more than prey. Luckily, she had never been a fan of modern cult vampires. She had been dragged along to the cinema to see the first of the Twilight movies, but had found herself treating it more as a comedy than a romance. The friend that had insisted she come with her, Harriet, had been very frustrated by this, and called her a "proper weirdo", citing Edward Cullen as "well lush". While Hal might also fall under the esteemed category of "well lush", he didn't look quite good enough to drive Bethan to suicide. Not quite, but then again it had been a close run thing that night.

She realised with a start that she might actually be staring directly at him in the mirror. She darted her eyes away from it, turning her attention to the car park instead. It was best not to think about him at all, lest her wandering eyes got them both into trouble again. She took to looking at the cars parked around them, picking out likely candidates for missing road tax or insurance through force of habit. A black BMW parked under the shade of a sprawling oak tree caught her eye, but it wasn't the car that concerned her. It was the driver, barely visible in the dim shadows cast by the branches, but still recognisable.

"Oh my God. Rook's here."

* * *

Alex had been wrong. Seeing her body laid out on the mortuary slab was much worse than seeing it in the basement. Which really didn't make any sense to her. But then she had never been particularly logical. It wasn't as though not looking at it was really any better, considering the only other person in the room was her Dad. His cry of anguish when they had pulled back the sheet to reveal her face was a sound she knew she would never forget. It was the audible agony of losing a child in one distraught sound. As he sobbed he stroked her cheeks, kissed her hair, told her he loved her and said goodbye. And she had wept with him. For the first time since she had been trapped in the cellar, she had finally cried. It felt strange, to mourn her own passing, but oddly right as well. She felt alive with Tom and Hal, because for all intents and purposes, she was. They could see her, touch her, talk to her. Her father could not. Her grief was for him, the father she had lost because she had died.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she finally followed him out of the room. The detective had gone, the information he had needed already confirmed, for all the good it would do. Not that she really cared about that. Cutler had already suffered his punishment for killing her, and the investigation would go no further with that bastard Rook pulling the strings. The family liaison officer sat by her father's side and explained that there were organisations that could help him and her brothers in their time of need. He hadn't been interested, as she had suspected, only wanting to know when her body would be released to them.

"I want to have her buried properly as soon as possible. She deserves that. She shouldn't be alone in there any longer than she has to be." He had said quietly. That had brought fresh tears to her eyes. The family liaison officer explained that now that her identity was confirmed, her body would be released to her family immediately. "Monday. We'll bury her on Monday. There's a rhyme they use for when children are born I think. Her mother used to say it before all the kids were born, her and her brothers. She was born on a Monday."Fair of face" or something, it goes. She's certainly beautiful. Or she was anyway. She always will be to me." He said, staring blankly straight ahead, the shock of seeing her body still plainly visible in his eyes.

She'd heard enough. She left him there with the police officer, stumbling almost blindly out of the building, not even bothering to rentaghost back to the car. Tom was the first one out, and she all but fell into him as he gathered her into his arms and held her tight. Tom had many good qualities, but his hugs were right at the top of Alex's list at that moment. Hal and Bethan weren't far behind him, watching on concernedly. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before pulling away and wiping her eyes.

"You alright?" Tom asked worriedly.

"Let's just go home." She answered, avoiding the issue.

"Yea, we should. No point staying here for any longer than we need to. We should definitely go home." Tom rushed. Alex knew that expression. The anxious smile, the apprehensive tone of voice, the sideways glances. Something was wrong. She followed his gaze to a car parked on the other side of the car park.

"Alex, he's right. We should go." Hal ventured, coming to stand infront of her to block her view of the car. He was trying to rectify Tom's mistake, but it was too late for that.

She stepped around him and started walking towards it. And suddenly, as she stared at the grey suited man in the posh black car, she was reminded of the rage she had felt when Hal had been left with her in the basement. Cutler was gone, but she was far from appeased. She could hear the others following behind her as she began to run, calling for her to stop, that she shouldn't be doing this. She didn't care. Rook saw them coming and smoothly got out of the car just as she reached it, shutting his door unconcernedly. She punched the bonnet, creating a fist shaped dent in it. Rook stared at it and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't move.

"Smug bastard!" She swung at him, but her fists just flew through him, as if he wasn't even there. It frustrated her even more, knowing that it was she who was the anomaly, the smoke on the breeze, the ghost. She was vaguely aware of Hal, Tom and Bethan arriving behind her, but she didn't stop. "Fucking wanker! You kept my body for months before you gave it back to them! They've been waiting, holding onto the hope that I was still alive for all that time and now you've got the audacity to come here, today of all fucking days! My Dad didn't deserve this.**I** didn't deserve this!" She started sobbing again, and Tom grabbed her from behind, pulling her back away from Rook. She collapsed in a heap in his arms, and he sat down with her, rocking her steadily to calm her.

"You've got a nerve haven't you? What are you doing here Rook?" Hal demanded.

"Good afternoon Mr Yorke. Mr McNair. Bethan, and Alex too I presume. Just making sure that everything runs smoothly. It is my job after all." He replied, smiling cheerfully.

"Well as you can see, everything is in hand, so if you could kindly bugger off. You had no place coming here to gloat." Hal glared at him. Rook's mirthful expression didn't change.

"I was under the impression that this is what Alex wanted. Her family can grieve for her now and she can move on with her life. Well, her death. And what of you Bethan? How are you? It's been a while since we last saw each other. Has living with the three wise monkeys here made you reconsider my offer yet? Just to be clear, this is the last chance you'll get to accept."

"Offer? What offer?" Hal asked warily.

"I offered Bethan the chance to join the organisation I work for." Rook smirked, seeming pleased that she hadn't told them about it already.

"I'd rather die." Bethan answered coldly, taking the others by surprise.

"Oh Bethan. Sweet, beautiful, young Bethan. Trust me when I say that that can be arranged." He smiled warmly despite the obvious threat. Before any of them could react, Hal had stalked forward and grabbed Rook by his collar, pinning him up against the tree trunk. Tom was up in a flash standing next to the two of them and reaching for the stake that Bethan knew he carried in the back of his trousers, just in case.

"Hal." He warned, though his usually jovial eyes were fixed on Rooks' with a piercing glare.

"I've had just about enough of you. Leave us all alone, Bethan included." Hal growled at him.

"Now now Hal. This can't be helping your recovery." Rook calmly brushed his hands aside and walked past him back towards the car, straightening his tie as he went. He opened the door and got in, starting the engine and winding down the window. "Keep looking over your shoulder Bethan. Remember, you've been noticed." He called cheerfully as he drove away. Bethan's face lost some of its colour and her legs felt weak, but she swallowed her fear down, not allowing herself to be beaten by him again.

Tom walked back to where Alex was still sat on the ground to help her up. As they all headed back towards the car, Hal hesitantly laid a comforting hand on Bethan's back. She glanced at him in surprise but kept walking.

"You'll be alright. We'll make sure of it. He's just a weasel." Even he didn't look convinced by his own attempt to reassure her.


	9. Testing Times

**Chapter 9: Testing Times**

Sorry again for the wait between updates. This is the penultimate chapter, so I wanted to write it in conjunction with the finale so that I felt I was happy with both. Thanks again to all the readers and reveiwers, in particular shoepigeon, whimsyfox, TJ, saemay and fifi! Chapter 10 coming very soon... Enjoy! x

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

"I'm going to the funeral." Alex stated matter-of-factly over breakfast the next morning. Hal and Tom looked up at her for a moment, then carried as normal.

"Alright." Hal answered, as if the idea of a ghost going to her own funeral was the most normal thing in the world. Bethan glanced up at him before realising that he must be talking to Alex and getting back to her breakfast.

"What? No persuading me not to go? No disapproving look?" Alex frowned at him, slightly disappointed at the lack of reaction.

"No need. We're going with you." Tom answered for him, smiling at the ghost.

"What, no! You can't."

"Why not? If you want to go on your own that's fine, but we thought you might want some company." Tom explained.

"You've already discussed this?"

"Of course we have. We had a feeling you'd want to go." Hal responded without looking up from the paper he was reading.

"But... You can't go. What about your jobs?"

"Already took the time off."

"So, let me get this straight. You're prepared to sit in a car and drive the four-hundred odd miles to Edinburgh for seven hours, all for me?"

"That's about the gist of it." Hal answered.

"That's... that's really lovely. But I can't ask you to do that." She shook her head at them and looked down at the buttons on her jacket, fiddling with one nervously.

"Well that's alright then because you're not asking, we're telling you we're doing it." Tom grinned at her.

"Why?"

"Because you're our mate and we love you. And because we know why you're really going. Well, Hal knew, but then he told me so now I know as well."

"And why's that exactly?"

"It's one last chance to see if your door comes." Hal looked up at her seriously. She opened her mouth to deny it, but after opening and closing it like a goldfish a few times, she sighed and came to sit with them at the table.

"Ok, you're right."

"I know. I'm always right." He smiled at her smugly. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"But how can you go? I mean, Tom can't come with me on his own because that leaves you and Bethan alone together in the house, you can't come with me or your own because if my door does come you'll have to drive back on your own and God help the population of northern England if you get peckish. And you can't both come with me because then Bethan will be left on her own here and Rook might get her." Alex rushed.

"It's all taken care of." Hal answered calmly.

"What does that mean?"

"We might have asked Bethan if she would also take the time off work so that she could come with us."

"You what?! So you're all going now? That's absurd. And so, so nice." She finished with a slight smile.

"Well we couldn't leave you to go through your door on your own could we? If it comes I mean." Tom beamed at her.

"So you're all coming to Scotland with me?"

"Yup."

"Hang on, but isn't it your time of the month on the Tuesday night?" she asked Tom worriedly.

"Yea, it'll be fine. We'll be back home by then and even if we wasn't, I could do my thing in the Highlands or something. Stop worrying Alex, we're going with you and that's final."

* * *

Five days and one five AM start later, Tom was feeling a little less cheerful about the situation. He had always been pretty good at getting up early while he had lived in the woods with McNair. Living in a house with a real bed and central heating had soon put paid to that. He yawned sleepily and lay back in his seat. Hal rolled his eyes.

"You're not even driving. Honestly, the youth of today."

"Bethan's asleep and you're not telling her off." Tom sulked.

"Bethan is entitled to sleep, she's driving the second half of the journey."

"Wait, we're stopping somewhere? I thought you said that motorway services were evil? And they're on the left, I didn't think you could stop on the left?"

"Yes, we're stopping, just before Preston. And it's a motorway Tom, all of the stops are on the left." Hal answered dryly.

"You know, it's times like these I wish I could rentaghost with living things. That would make the journey go quicker." Alex sighed from the back. "Hey you know what else would make the journey go quicker Hal? If you would drive faster. Mind you, I have to admit, I am impressed at your pedal control. You've actually managed to keep us at exactly sixty-six miles-per-hour for a good seventy miles now."

"It's the optimal speed for fuel consumption." Hal replied through gritted teeth.

"Yea yea, you keep telling yourself that." Alex muttered.

When they eventually stopped at the motorway services, Tom made sure he was alert. Hal was much better now, but it paid to be careful. It would be a devastating blow for them all if he slipped up now after all the work they had put in rehabilitating him. He had been relieved to find that the vampire only wanted some fresh air, citing a trip inside the services as "a fate worse than death". Alex stayed with him in the car park while Tom and Bethan went inside.

"What's so bad about service stations?" she asked him amusedly.

"People." he said simply.

"You know you're a proper moody old sod."

"I try my best." He smiled sarcastically at her.

When the time came to get back into the car, Hal was hesitant to surrender the driver's seat to Bethan.

"Oh Hal, don't be such a misogynist. Women can drive just as well as men can." Alex huffed at him, folding her arms.

"Firstly, congratulations on your use of such a big word, and secondly, it's not because she's a woman, it's because she's not me." He glared at the ghost.

"And boy can we all be thankful for that. One of you is more than enough." She shot back.

"You're really not helping." Hal sighed. He opened the door for Bethan, who was trying very hard not to laugh at the half of the conversation she could hear. He walked around the back of the car to the seat behind the front passenger. They had decided that keeping him as far away from Bethan's neck as possible was a priority, so Tom had given up his seat in the front of the car to sit behind Bethan, making sure that Hal couldn't reach her if things got heated. Not that the vampire anticipated that. If he had, he would have called the whole journey off, knowing very well that Tom wouldn't be able to stop him in time if he really wanted to attack her.

As they crossed the border into Scotland and drew ever closer to Edinburgh, their chatter and good-natured teasing died down. Alex stared out of the window silently as she began to recognise places she had visited all her life. She smiled at the familiar sight of the Pentland Hills, where her Grandfather had taken her and her brothers out walking years ago, before his arthritis had got too bad to manage the steep inclines. They passed the cinema she and her friends had visited often during her teenage years, the wall outside the local supermarket where she'd had her first proper kiss, and her old secondary school. She had heard the expression that your life flashed before your eyes when you died, but even she could see the irony in that statement in this situation.

Finally, they pulled up outside a stone church on a quiet suburban street. Alex sat in still silence, staring at it for a few moments.

"My Mum and Dad got married here. When she died, this is where her service was held. And now it's my turn." She told them emptily. She rentaghosted outside and stood at the black cast-iron railings that bordered the church, resting her chin between two of the blunted spikes in the fence. The others followed her, standing at the railings with her as black-clad mourners filtered through a gate on the other side of the church yard.

"Should we go in? It looks like it's going to start soon." Tom asked quietly.

"I'm not going in. It's weird, but it feels like I'm not really welcome. Funerals aren't really for the person who died, they're for the people who are left behind to say goodbye. And I know I'm still here, kind of like I've been left behind, but it feels wrong intruding on their goodbyes. I don't want to see that. I want to remember all the times we had together while I was alive, not their sadness that I'm gone. Does that sound stupid?" Alex turned to look at them searchingly.

"Not at all. It makes perfect sense." Hal smiled sadly at her. It was almost a mirror image of the look he had given her at the bottom of the basement stairs in the nightclub, when she had finally accepted that she was dead. She thought it seemed strangely appropriate that he would give her that look again now. Before he had time to react, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. He stiffened for a moment, but relaxed faster than she had anticipated, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist in his own uncomfortable effort to return the hug. It made her smile, to think how different he was now to when they had first strapped him to the chair.

Much of her initial impression of him had come from Tom, and during his worst days of rehab, she had doubted the werewolf's assurances that he was "a nice bloke really". As he had got steadily better and more lucid, the Hal she had seen trying to save the world, the real Hal as they liked to call him, had grown stronger and stronger. They might argue all the time, and he might be uptight and posh and irritating beyond belief, but she had to admit, for all that had happened to him in his life, he had one of the biggest hearts of anyone she had ever met.

She swiftly released him from the embrace, knowing that he was only really hiding his deep-seated discomfort from her as an act of kindness. He stepped back and smoothed down his clothes involuntarily, looking away awkwardly. He might be relaxing around them slowly, but showing affection, especially physically, still embarrassed him a great deal. She smiled again at that.

"When they come out I'll follow them, but for now there's someone I want to see first. She led them through an iron gate to the side of the church, walking through the cemetery as if she knew exactly where she was going. The reason soon became apparent.

"Hi Mum." Alex said sadly, kneeling down infront of the familiar headstone. "So this is kind of a bummer. I thought I might get to see you again when I died, but it seems like I'll have to wait a bit longer for that. Anyway, if you can hear me wherever you are, I hope you're alright, and that you're not worried about me. I've got my best mates to look after me." She brushed a hand over the stone affectionately. "And if we do get to do any of that watching over people stuff they talk about when we reach the other side, please just make sure Dad and the boys are alright. They deserve some happiness for a change."

A little while later, after the church had emptied, Hal, Tom and Bethan watched on from a safe distance as Alex stood with her family while they buried her. One by one the mourners left the graveside, until eventually just her father and her two eldest brothers were left. She watched as he put his arms around the two teenager's shoulders, holding them close as if he were afraid he might lose them too.

"Love you sweetheart." He said quietly, before leading the boys away still holding onto them.

Once they were gone, Hal, Tom and Bethan made their way over to her. Hal was surprised by just how tranquil she looked.

"Are you alright?" he asked gingerly.

"Yea. Yea I think I am." She smiled sadly. "They'll be alright, they've got each other. And I've got you guys. Thanks again for coming. It would have been really hard if I'd been on my own."

"Your door didn't come then." Tom pointed out, trying to hide his relief.

"Apparently not. So I guess we really are back to square one on the whole unfinished business thing. Oh well. I suppose I'll just have to start facing up to spending an eternity with you Hal." She gave the vampire a half-hearted smirk, the events of the day still raw. "It's alright though. I don't think I was really ready to go anyway. Come on. Let's go."

With Hal in the driving seat once more, they made their way out of the city and back into the open, undulating hills of the Scottish countryside. After getting lost twice they finally found the isolated stone cottage they had rented for the night. Hal hadn't been comfortable with the idea of staying in a hotel, thinking that the close proximity to all those human guests might just be too much to take, but he had conceded that fourteen hours in the car in one day was unlikely to help his mood either. They had settled for a holiday cottage as a solution to the problem of the vampire being too close to any unsuspecting humans, and as it was still low season and they'd booked late, it had been a fairly cheap and cheerful reminder of home.

"I was thinking I might stay up here for a few days. You know, just to say goodbye to the place, make sure my dad and my brothers are getting on alright. Maybe check in on a few friends. What do you think?" Alex asked over dinner. Hal looked up, a tinge of worry visible in the set of his mouth.

"If you feel you need to, we can't stop you. Nor should we." He said oddly formally. Alex frowned, wondering why he was nervous about the idea.

"Stop her from what?" Bethan asked from across the table.

"From stopping here for a bit. You will come back home won't you? I mean, home in Barry." Tom asked unsurely.

"Of course I will! Don't be daft Tom, you can't get rid of me that easily." The ghost smiled at him.

As evening drew in, they settled in the snug little living room infront of the TV. Tom made a show of getting a fire going in the wide hearth, happily reliving memories of his experiences growing up in the woods with McNair. Hal busied himself with a newspaper crossword, while Alex and Bethan sat engrossed when an old murder mystery drama started on the television, both attempting to guess who would be revealed as the killer, both getting it completely wrong.

Towards the end of the programme, Hal glanced up at Bethan. She was curled up in her armchair on the other side of the room, head leant back and eyes closed. He tried very hard not to stare at her openly exposed neck, her throbbing pulse just visible beneath the skin. He frowned and got back to his crossword, disappointed in himself for not looking away sooner.

His fleeting glance did not go unnoticed. Alex smirked and scooted closer to Tom on the sofa, whispering in his ear and hoping Hal didn't notice. Tom looked at her confusedly but eventually nodded.

"Night then. See you in the morning." Tom said quietly, standing up and leaving the room hastily. Hal looked up for a moment, but dismissed his friend's slightly odd behaviour without a second thought. In the doorway, Tom turned and silently mouthed "be careful" to Alex. She waved him away dismissively, and with a frown he padded away down the short corridor and up the narrow staircase to his bedroom. With two bedrooms on the first floor and one on the ground, it had seemed appropriate that the boys should have the upstairs rooms while Bethan slept downstairs. When they had looked into booking the cottage, Hal had insisted that he be at least a floor away from her during the night, as apart from the bathroom, the internal doors had no locks. Alex wasn't quite so distrusting. Caution was one thing, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was just becoming part of his new routine.

"Well, it's getting late. Oh, look Hal. Bethan's fallen asleep. You'll have to carry her to her room." Alex smirked at him, seeing no point in trying to cover up what she was doing. He would only guess anyway. Hal barely moved, shifting his eyes up to hers and raising an eyebrow.

"So that's why Tom was in such a hurry to leave. Well you can just go and get him and tell him to do it, seeing as he won't rip her throat out if he goes near her."

"You're not going to do that." Alex sighed.

"Well frankly, I don't think it's worth the risk. If there's blood everywhere, we'll void the deposit on this place." He said dryly, looking back at his newspaper and resting the end of his pen on his pursed lips, pretending to be deep in thought.

"If you're in a good enough mood to make jokes, you're in a good enough mood to at least try. You're holding yourself back Hal. You can't play it safe forever."

"A week ago I almost killed her. What makes you think this will be any different?" he asked disinterestedly.

"Well for starters she's wearing more than just a towel this time. I'm not sure I've ever seen so little flesh on show on one person." She nodded to indicate Bethan's thick pyjamas, dressing gown and the blanket that was draped over her.

"It's not about what she's wearing, it's about not getting into a situation where I might not be able to control myself."

"You could at least try. You can't hide away forever. And besides, she might be staying with us for a long time yet, and you can't keep this up forever. You need to push your boundaries, otherwise you'll never know if you're really safe or not."

"And you want to use her as a test subject?"

"I'm here, nothing's going to happen to her. I'll follow you to her room and if I see you vamp out I'll rentaghost you to Antarctica or something, and you'll only have polar bears and penguins for company. Now get over there, pick her up and put her in bed."

"There are no polar bears in Antarctica, they live in the Arctic." He answered tediously.

"Shut up smart arse. Well? Are you going to do it?"

"We should just wake her up. Let her walk to her room by herself. What do you think will happen if she wakes up while I've got hold of her? She's going to be terrified."

"She won't wake up, trust me. She sleeps like the dead. She fell asleep on the sofa a few weeks ago, I accidently knocked one of the bar stools over right near where her head was, she didn't stir. Didn't even make a sound. Seriously, watch." Alex picked up the remote control from the arm of the sofa and dropped it on to the floor infront of the arm chair. It hit the wooden boards with a loud smack, but the sleeping girl didn't even flinch. "See." She grinned at him. He sighed.

"This is wrong Alex. I don't have any right to touch her, it's not gentlemanly."

"Get with the century Mr Darcy. I'm not asking you to do anything dodgy with her. You're putting her to bed, you don't need to ask for her hand in marriage in the morning. Come on Hal, for me, please? It's been a really rough week, it'd be nice if something good came out of it."

"You're stooping to emotional blackmail now? Low Alex, very low."

"Only because you know it's working. Go on, go. Move it." She grinned as she held out her hand. The pen he'd been holding flew into it with ease, making Hal start. He shook his head irritably but stood nonetheless. Alex watched with bated breath as he stepped hesitantly towards Bethan. He faltered for a moment, turning back to Alex anxiously. "Go on." She encouraged.

Sighing defeatedly, he bent down and slid his arms carefully under her flushing at the sudden contact. He lifted her slowly so as not to wake her, in case Alex was wrong about her being a heavy sleeper, before turning to leave the room, blanket trailing along the ground after him. He could hear Alex following him down the hallway, and he was sure he could all but feel the smug grin that he knew was spread across her face. He stared directly ahead, not allowing himself to catch sight of Bethan's neck.

Reaching the bedroom, he tapped the door open with his foot and laid her gently on the bed. As he slipped his arms from under her his gaze fell on that perfect, succulent, pulsating patch of skin just over the top of her jugular. In the dim light spilling in from the hallway, her skin was a beautiful mixture of cream and warm pink, and despite spending seven hours in a car earlier in the day, she smelt wonderful. He blinked and swallowed, making himself turn away and walk past Alex through the door back towards the lounge. She smiled brightly at him as came towards her. She folded the blanket over Bethan's still sleeping form and shut the door, before making her own way back to the living room.

"See. I bloody knew you could do it!" She beamed.

"It was still a struggle."

"She's still alive. And I didn't have to take you to the Antarctic after all. Win win!"

"Yes." He admitted, giving in finally. "And on that note, I really can't take any more of you being full of yourself for tonight. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." He headed out of the room again and up the stairs, without a second look at Bethan's bedroom door. As he undressed for bed, he realised that Alex may well have been right. Perhaps he had just needed to push himself.

_Small steps_, he reminded himself, climbing into bed. It didn't stop him from smiling though. For the first time in a while, Hal really felt as though he could start trusting himself again.


	10. Desperate Measures

**Chapter 10: Desperate Measures**

So here it is, the final chapter. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed, and thanks for your encouragement along the way! Enjoy! x

**Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, and I don't wish I did because it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is, and it would get cancelled when I made sure Damien Molony was in every scene!**

Bethan woke with a start. She sat up and blinked tiredly, the gloomy dawn light casting dull grey shadows over the room.

"How did I get here?" she yawned and stretched, running a hand through her tangled hair confusedly. She could hear the sounds of cutlery on crockery and Hal's voice from the kitchen. She stood up from the bed and clutched the blanket that had covered her around her shoulders.

In the kitchen, Hal was sat at the compact table studying his paper from the day before. He glanced up at her as she moved towards one of the chairs.

"Not that one." He said simply.

"Oh, sorry Alex." She moved to the next chair along to avoid sitting in the space the ghost occupied, flopping down wearily. "How did I get to my room last night? I don't remember going to bed."

Hal sighed under his breath at the smug smile that Alex shot him from across the table.

"I put you there. Alex made me."

"Oh." Bethan replied, desperately hoping she wasn't blushing.

"Well you could have explained a little better." Alex tutted. He ignored her, looking down at his paper again. "Fine, suit yourself." She muttered under her breath, retrieving a piece of paper and a pen from the worktop and hastily scribbling a message. She thrust the note infront of Bethan.

"What have you written in that?" Hal asked exasperatedly. Bethan smiled and handed him the scrap of paper to read when she was finished with it.

"Only what happened. I thought you should test yourself, you did, it all worked out fine. Don't worry, I put that you were reluctant. I don't want you biting my head off about making you seem over-keen." He nodded, satisfied with her account of what had happened. "I'd better go and find out where Tom's got to. You need to be out of here by ten and you know what he's like. He could sleep for Wales."

"I want to leave by eight if possible. We can't leave it to chance that we won't get stuck in traffic or have car trouble. I don't want him transforming on the hard shoulder of the M6 tonight. Is that alright with you?" he asked Bethan.

"Yea sure, I won't take long to get ready." She answered, rising to make herself a cup of tea.

"Right, then. I'll go and break the news. Prepare yourselves for a very grumpy werewolf." Alex joked, rentaghosting out of the room. Hal looked up at Bethan after making sure the ghost was out of earshot.

"While she's gone, I need to talk to you about tonight."

"About how we're going to be alone together. I mean, not in that way! Just, in the house together. Without either of them." Bethan flushed pink.

"You already know?" Hal asked, ignoring her Freudian slip.

"I realised as soon as Tom said she wanted to stay here."

"And you're not worried?" he asked.

"Considerably less so now. Thanks for putting me to bed last night. And for not killing me too." She smirked at him.

"You really don't mind? Tom will be locked in the basement all night, he won't be able to help if something goes wrong. You do understand that don't you?"

"Yes, but nothing will go wrong. I promise not to take a shower this time."

"This isn't a joke." He frowned at her as she sat back down at the table with her tea.

"Sorry. How do you feel about it?"

"Nervous."

"Way to make me feel better. She obviously needs this time to say goodbye properly, and you did manage to carry me all the way to my bedroom without sticking your fangs in me. So it'll be fine. We'll just stay away from each other until morning." She shrugged.

"So eloquently put." He said dryly. "She hasn't figured it out yet, and neither has Tom, otherwise they'd be up in arms. I don't want him knowing at least until we're almost home. He'll only worry otherwise."

"Agreed. Now stop looking so miserable or they'll know something's up."

"I always look miserable. If I were smiling, then they'd be concerned." He said, the hint of a smile playing on his lips as a contradiction. Bethan smiled into her mug of tea. A minute later, Alex rentaghosted back into the room and sat down. "How was he?" Hal asked, shooting Bethan a warning look to let her know that the ghost was present again.

"Oh, you know, unresponsive. So I sat on him until he agreed to get up. He'll be down in a bit, he's just having a shower. Are you sure you're alright with me staying here for a few days extra?"

"Yes, we'll be fine. Don't worry about us." He answered, feigning frustration so that she didn't press the issue.

Forty minutes later, Hal climbed into the drivers seat of his car, sighing agitatedly at how long Tom was taking to leave the cottage. The werewolf finally piled out of the front door and threw his bag into the boot.

"I thought you could take my mobile, just incase you get any problems, then you can call us. Or we can call you. Just put it in your pocket and no one will be able to see it, otherwise you might freak people out if you carry it around." He said, handing his phone to Alex.

"There goes my fun with the floating mobile gag." She smiled at him. "Thanks Tom, but I'll be fine, really. And I'll only be gone a few days." They hugged goodbye and Tom made his way to the passenger side of the car.

"Bye Alex." Hal called through the open drivers side window.

"Bye Hal." She replied with a smile, before rentaghosting away.

The journey was uneventful, even when they stopped again at the services so that Bethan could take over the driving. They hit some traffic outside Cardiff, but made it home in plenty of time for Tom's transformation. A few hours after they arrived home, Tom found Hal washing up in the kitchen.

"There's a problem." He stated.

"Oh?"

"It's the full moon tonight."

"I'm aware."

"So who's going to make sure you don't... who's going to make sure Bethan's alright?" Tom asked unsubtly.

"It's all in hand. I feel much better about being able to control myself, and we're going to stay as far away from each other as possible until morning. Don't concern yourself." Hal replied calmly, laying a fork down precisely on the draining rack.

"Are you sure?"

"Well what other option do we have?"

"I suppose."

After a hasty dinner, Hal disappeared upstairs to get back into his usual routine, while Bethan and Tom settled down infront of the TV for a while. Until the change started. She jumped as Tom threw himself off of the sofa with a cry, contorting on the floor as the first wave of pain hit him.

"Hal? Hal!" she called upstairs, not knowing what to do. She had never seen him transform before. He took a few shuddering breaths and pulled himself up onto his knees, grunting as another convulsion hit. She crouched beside him and laid a hand hesitantly on his back. "What do I do?" she asked him worriedly. Under her hand, his spine seemed bubble as lumps formed all the way down his back, his skin growing taught over them. She snatched her hand away in disgust. He turned to look at her, breathing heavily, crying out again as his teeth seemed to shift and sharpen. His eyes were a golden, terrifying amber. She stared, at him, unable to look away.

"No, Bethan... stay away..." Tom gasped, his breath coming in pants as he struggled to his feet. She hardly heard him, unable to move. Suddenly, she felt strong hands tight on her shoulders and shook herself back to the present as she was hoisted backwards, away from the transforming werewolf.

"Tom, honestly, not again. Did you not look at the clock? Come on, let's get you downstairs." Hal said to his friend calmly. Tom gripped the wall for support as he made his way to the basement, hunched over and groaning as the spasms kept on coming. Hal followed, bolting the door behind him. When he returned to the living room, Bethan was sat where he had left her, on the floor next to the sofa. He offered her his hand to help her up, and she sat on the sofa rubbing her arms nervously. Tom screamed from the basement and her head whipped around to the hallway door.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked nervously.

"No. He just has to suffer it. He'll be fine in the morning though." Hal answered, trying to sound comforting. "For future reference though, you shouldn't go near him when he's like that. Or for a few hours before even. One scratch is all it takes to transfer the curse."

"I'll bear that in mind." She muttered, looking a little ill at the prospect.

"I should go back upstairs. Try not to worry about him... I'll see you in the morning."

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, there was a loud crash. He turned towards the front door, just as it flew back against the wall so hard it left a dent in the tired wallpaper.

"What the..." Three neatly suited men piled in and swiftly pinned Hal to the wall, twisting his arms behind his back to stop him moving. "What are you doing?! Who the hell are you!?"

Bethan ran to see what had happened, but stopped dead in the living room doorway as Mr Rook stepped smoothly through the front door, closing it behind him. Tom screamed again from the basement, cutting through the silence that had fallen. Rook glanced towards the noise unconcernedly, then turned back to Bethan and smiled coldly.

"Good evening. I do hope we're not disturbing you."

"What do you want?" she asked shakily, already knowing the answer.

"You." He said simply.

"I'm warning you Rook! Get out before I do something I'm sure we'll all regret!" Hal growled, struggling against the men crushing him to the wall. Mr Rook walked over to him, pulled a small black box from his pocket and placed it against Hal's neck. The vampire grunted painfully and jerked.

"I've been dealing with creatures like you for a long time Hal. You don't get to ten years in the job without learning a few tricks."

"Did you just shock me with a cattle prod!? How dare you!"

"The more trouble you cause the higher the voltage will go."

"Don't you dare hurt her Rook. I swear, you go near her and I'll..."

"You'll what Hal? You attack any one of us and half a century of hard work will be undone. Besides, I find you're attempt at playing the hero a little rich. Your file is so big it's not a file anymore, it's a whole shelf. Now are you going to behave and let me deal with her in peace or am I going to have to subdue you?"

"Subdue!" Hal barked a short disbelieving laugh. "Who do you think you are? Now I'm going to count to ten and they had better have let me go before I finish. One. Two. Three..." Mr Rook sighed exasperatedly.

"You know, I was half hoping you'd do the job of killing her for me when she moved in here. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you didn't. It would have meant an awful lot of cleaning up. I've read that you're prone to go on rather a rampage the first time you've killed after one of your little forays to the good side. This way the mess will be quite nicely contained." Mr Rook sneered at the livid vampire. He rotated a small dial on the cattle prod before shocking him again. Hal jerked and groaned sharply, sagging against the wall slightly. "Put him downstairs with the werewolf." He instructed his men coolly.

"No!" Bethan stepped forward as the three suited men dragged Hal down the corridor. She stopped abruptly as Rook thrust his arm infront of her to block her path, leaning against the wall and staring straight into her eyes.

"I warned you to stay away."

She leapt at him angrily but he dodged the punch she threw with ease, pinning her arm behind her, just as he had a month ago when they had fought in her apartment. She cried out as he forced it upwards, pushing the joint in her shoulder to its limits. The door to the cellar slammed, and she could hear Hal pounding on it with his fists and shouting furiously. Tom screamed again and the banging stopped abruptly. A few moments later the phone rang loud behind the bar, the sound a jarring contrast to the silence that had fallen in the basement.

"Wait in the car." Mr Rook instructed his associates. They walked obediently past without saying a word. The phone stopped ringing as the door shut behind them. Mr Rook brought his free hand around her to rest against the wall. The knife he held in it gleamed ominously in the dim yellow light. "I've been waiting for this opportunity for weeks. I had the car bugged you see. No ghost, no werewolf, just you and the vegetarian vampire." She backed away from the blade involuntarily, closing the gap he had left between them. She felt something hard against the small of her back and jerked away in repulsion, before she realised what it was. Gritting her teeth, she slowly reached back with her free arm so he wouldn't notice, covertly pulling the stake free from the waistband of her jeans. "You really should have accepted my offer. Now I'm going to have to silence you for good myself."

The phone rang again, quieted against the piercing sound of another of Tom's screams echoing from the basement, this time seeming fused with an animalistic roar. She could hear his loud, panting breaths coming as deep snarls now, and knew she didn't have much time. She choked back a sob, and made a choice she hoped she wouldn't regret.

* * *

Tom looked towards the door as he heard a loud bang and shouting from upstairs. He tried to stand, staggering a few steps towards it before his back bent violently, sending him sprawling on the floor, crying out in pain. He felt his spine shift upwards against his straining skin, his canines growing as the bones of his face stretched themselves forward to form a snout, his fingers break and elongate into claws. It was white hot agony, but he was used to that. What really scared him in that moment was what might be happening on the other side of the door.

He gasped for breath as the wave of pain subsided slightly, making the most of the lull before the next tremors hit. Suddenly, he heard footsteps pounding down the stairs and Hal shouting angrily. The door opened and the vampire stumbled through it, falling to the floor beside him. He caught a glimpse of the men outside before the door was pulled shut. Hal stood up and ran at it, beating his fists against it desperately.

"Rook! Let me out! Leave her alone! Rook!" he yelled furiously. Tom screamed again as his arms and legs broke and extended. Hal turned around and slid down the door dejectedly.

"Please don't blame yourself Tom. Whatever happens to me, it's not your fault." He said quietly. Tom watched him forlornly, rolling onto his hands and knees and shaking, trying to hold back, not wanting to let go. "Don't Tom, you know as well as I do that you can't stop it. Just please, don't feel guilty. It'll consume you if you let it, and you don't deserve that. You've been one of the best friends I've ever had Tom, you and Alex both, and I'll never be able to find the words to thank you for what you've done for me in the past few months. If you remember this in the morning, please tell her I said that, and that I'm sorry for bringing about her death."

Tom cocked his head to the side and studied the vampire. He felt a strange mixture of sadness, pity and deep-seated rage. He sniffed the air and turned his top lip up in disgust, the vampire's scent strong in the cramped space. It filled him with fury, though somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure why. This was his friend. A brother almost. Which was ridiculous, because vampires were the enemy. He snarled.

His chest felt as though it were bursting as his ribs expanded, making space for the swollen organs caged within. He screamed one last scream and crouched back on his haunches, breathing heavily as the pain faded away to nothing.

"Tom?"

His head snapped towards the vampire. He bared his teeth and stood up to his full height, watching as the creature scrambled back towards the door. The howl that ripped free from his throat was the final release as the animal in him came to the fore.

* * *

Alex sat at the bar in the pub, watching the punters growing steadily more drunk as the evening progressed. She sighed and rested her head in her hands on the bar. This was where she and her friends had regularly hung out in her late teens, playing pool, abusing the other customers by putting terrible cheesy pop songs on the juke box, laughing and joking the nights away. It had seemed like a good place to visit to relive the memories, but all it was doing was making her feel bitter and resentful. She couldn't taste the beer, couldn't join in the chatter with the locals she knew so well, and she couldn't get wasted. Which was exactly what she wished she could be doing given the week she'd had.

She jumped up from her bar stool and walked out into the cool fresh air. At least she assumed it was cool and fresh. She couldn't feel anything. It was funny the little details you missed when they weren't there anymore. Wandering down the street away from the pub, it struck her that she missed the B&B. It surprised her, especially since much of her time there had been taken up with looking after Hal. The last few months had been traumatic, awkward and gruesome at times, but they had also had their fun times too, and now she and Tom and Hal were really beginning to feel like a family. And there was Bethan there now too. It was almost as if there had been something pulling her back to Wales ever since the others had left. She tried to reason with herself that it was just because that was where she had died, but it wasn't just that. She really felt like she belonged there with them.

One of her old neighbours came walking down the street towards her, his small dog barking angrily at her as it went past, looking at her as if it could see her. She wondered if it could.

"Oh piss off you wee, yappy little shite." She said to it with a grin, feeling liberated again at being able to speak without people hearing. There were upsides to being a ghost. Her smile faded as she remembered Tom. Considerably larger than the yapping mutt and certainly nowhere near as annoying, he would be transforming tonight. She hated listening to him when it happened. It made her glad she was out of the house. Hearing him in pain was terrible. She wondered how Bethan was coping, listening to her first werewolf transformation. Hal would make her feel better, she was sure. He was a moody old git, but he could be kind when he wanted to be. She stopped dead.

Tom was transforming. Which meant Bethan would be alone in the house with Hal all night. She frowned, conflicted over what to do and angry with herself for not realising sooner. After he'd managed so well the night before, she trusted him a lot more, but was it enough? Could he hold himself back with no one there to help him if he needed it? She tried to convince herself everything would be fine, but she couldn't shake the niggling worry deep in the pit of her stomach.

She remembered Tom's mobile sitting in her pocket. One quick ring couldn't hurt could it? She fumbled it out, hoping no one would see it floating in the street in the dark, but moving away from the glaring street light next to her just in case. Finding the number for Honolulu Heights she rang it. No answer. She rang it again. Still no answer. That wasn't like Hal. She paced nervously for a moment before making up her mind. It wouldn't take her long to rentaghost back, and it was better to be safe than sorry. If anything happened to any of them, she didn't think she would ever forgive herself. She closed her eyes and disappeared.

* * *

Hal had been close to death more times than he could count during his life. This time it wasn't just fear he felt, but sadness at the mess he would leave behind him. No matter what he said, he knew Tom would never forgive himself for what he was about to do. That was part of the cruelty of his curse. He really couldn't control himself when the beast took over. And right now, the beast was almost in control. He could see it in the feral way Tom looked at him, as if he was equal part friend and foe.

Tom suddenly writhed and cried out again, a sound that illustrated the curse with an ironic beauty, part man, part wolf. Hal was momentarily distracted as the dizzying smell of fresh human blood flooded the room from under the door. Sweet, tangy, metallic human blood. And lots of it. He looked at the door behind him and swallowed the lust and the dry throat away, abruptly realising that it could mean only one of two things. Either Bethan had somehow managed to injure Rook and get away, or she was hurt badly. He knew which was more likely, and another stab of guilt hit him, as it often did these days. He should have been able to protect her. It didn't stop him hoping he was wrong though. She was tough, tougher than he gave her credit for, and perhaps, just perhaps, she had found a way.

He looked back over to Tom. No, not Tom anymore. The werewolf.

"Tom?"

The werewolf turned its head sharply at the sound, snarling and towering above him. It turned its head skywards and howled a deafening wail that bounced off the walls in the tight space, amplifying the sound so that it was almost tangible. So this was it. The end. Five-hundred years of terror and tyranny and blood. Hal could see the irony in the situation in that second. He had sent a staggering number of werewolves to their deaths in dog fights over the years, and now here he was, about to be killed by one that had become his closest friend. He might have laughed had he not been about to die a horribly gruesome death.

He gritted his teeth as the werewolf ran at him. He leapt out of the way as best he could, his survival instinct kicking in however futile a gesture it was. The creature missed his throat by inches, but its jaws still met his arm, the sharp canines just catching the flesh of his bicep and making him cry out in pain. He looked up from his injured arm just in time to duck away from the next attack, landing heavily next to the door. Which someone was unlocking from the outside.

He glanced back at the werewolf, which was shaking itself having smashed head first into the wall he had dived away from. The door flew open just as it got back to its feet, and Hal took his chance to dive out, hefting the door shut and locking it behind him. He closed his eyes and sank to the floor at the bottom of the stairs, breathing heavily. Tom pounded at the door, running into it a few times in frustration at the vampire getting away.

Hal looked up at his rescuer for the first time. There she sat infront of him on the stairs, not a hair out of place and looking... well, radiant, considering what had happened. He noticed suddenly that Bethan was really quite pretty. Well, he'd noticed before of course, but he hadn't allowed himself to really look at her like that. It was too dangerous, given his track record with women. Now, strangely, it seemed as if it was ok for him to admit it. The smell of the blood was stronger out here, and he had to concentrate to keep himself from losing control. _Not with her here, she just saved your life _he thought, bringing himself back from the brink.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking her up and down for injuries. There was nothing obvious, not even a spot of blood on her. He sighed relievedly, not waiting for her answer. "How did you escape?" She looked down at the carpet, but he could see she was upset. "Bethan?"

"I didn't."

* * *

Alex rentaghosted into the street outside the house just in time to see Rook disappear into the passenger side of a grey van. She watched it drive away frozen to the spot. Looking up at the house, she rentaghosted inside, finding herself in the kitchen. She ran through the double doors into the living room in a panic.

"Hal? Bethan? Tom?"

"We're down here Alex." Came Hal's weary reply from the basement stairs. She rushed back into the kitchen and out into the hallway. As she reached the top of the stairs Alex stopped abruptly at the scene below her. Taking a few tentative steps down, she frowned at the vampire.

"Hal, what are you doing?" she asked cautiously. She didn't know quite what she had expected to see, but this definitely hadn't been on her list. There he sat on the bottom step, with his arms around the girl he had been doing his best to avoid for the past month. She wondered for a second if she had been too late, until Bethan turned to look up the stairs. Hal let his arms drop to his sides and looked up at the ghost solemnly. "Rook was outside. Has something happened? She's upset." She noted as Bethan wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand. "Why has she been crying Hal?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" he answered softly.

Alex was sure if it had been able to, her face would have drained completely of colour. She realised that Bethan wasn't just looking in the direction that Hal was talking. She was looking directly at her. Bethan could see her.

"Hi Alex. It's nice to finally meet you." She said with a sad smile. Alex sat down where she stood before she fell down.

"You're dead." She breathed, hardly believing it.

"Yea."

"Hal..." Alex looked at him, desperately hoping it hadn't been him that had killed her.

"It wasn't him Alex. It was Rook. Well, technically it was Rook, but I did sort of let him."

"Why?" she asked. Hal looked away ashamedly.

"He put Hal in the basement with Tom. He had a knife. I had a stake on me, and I maybe could have defended myself, or taken him down with me, I don't know. But it would have taken time, and I realised he was going to kill me anyway, whatever I did. So I decided to let him. I dropped the stake and he..." she stared straight ahead at nothing and subconsciously rubbed her throat where Alex assumed Rook had slit it.

"She got me out." Hal finished the account for her, startling her out of her thoughts.

"I can't believe it." Alex breathed.

"You're telling me." Bethan sat back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. "So I suppose this means that I'll be staying with you a little longer than planned..."

**(So there you have it! As in the programme itself, I seem never to wrap up all the loose ends in my stories, and I can only apologise if that is slightly frustrating. No plans for any more at the moment, but who knows what will happen in the future. Thanks again to everyone who has read this - I hope you enjoyed it! KatyNewt x)**


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